


Creeper Boy

by Hashtagmavin



Series: Creeper Boy [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Little bit of angst, M/M, Minecraft, Minor blood and pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 13:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hashtagmavin/pseuds/Hashtagmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Minecraft AU) While lost in the woods outside of Achievement City, Michael stumbles upon an odd boy dressed up like a creeper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Hashtagmavin.tumblr.com

If there is one thing I hate most in the world, it’s going out to kill animals.

Out of every job we can possibly assign to one another in Achievement City, hunting is probably the most boring. Especially since it’s a one person job, so there’s nobody to keep me company.

 _Somebody_  has to do it though, and today it’s my turn.

We have a pretty good system going in our little city. As if you can even call it a city. It’s compiled of just five of us. Geoff, Jack, Ryan, Ray, and myself, Michael.

Geoff is sort of like our boss or leader. He’ll tell us who does what as a job today, and he’s usually the one that builds all of the games we play for fun. Every Friday we all go to a new area where Geoff has built some huge crazy game that we all compete for. Sometimes Ryan will help him if it involves red stone torches.

But we all sort of work together like a little community, and we’re all really good friends. We even made a logo for ourselves once when we were all drunk, and Geoff ended up making a huge version of it out of wool in the center of our small city.

By city, I mean five houses. We seriously don’t even expand past having buildings for anything other than our own individual homes. Ryan’s is literally just this little attachment onto Geoff’s house that we lovingly call “Kung-Fu House.”

We’ve all been through a lot together, and I know that we all have each others backs. I’d fight to the death if it meant protecting those guys. We’re just one big, weird family.

But, of course, it’s more like an unspoken thing between all of us. We don’t go around saying sappy stuff like that. We spend our time beating the crap out of each other with swords, calling each other offensive names, and just treating each other like shit. It works for us.

Just because I’m content with being given a job, and I know that it’s not my first or last turn to go hunting, that doesn’t mean that I can’t complain to myself during it.

The only problem right now is that I’ve somehow gotten lost.

Out of everybody in Achievement City, I probably know my way around the least. Usually if I go out on my own, I don’t stray to far from the recognizable landmarks.

Once I’d gotten lost and the only way they were able to find me was to climb on top of Geoff’s huge house and keep watch for any signs of me wandering around trying to find my way back. I’m pretty hopeless when it comes to navigation.

I’ve never been so pissed off in my entire life. I should know these woods like the back of my hand, yet every tree I pass by looks so different and unfamiliar. I hasn’t come across any of the normal landmarks, and the more I walk around the more hopeless it seems.

To make matters worse it’s also night time. I’d left a few hours ago when it was still daylight out, and then as soon as it started to get dark I’d turned around to go back. Yeah, as if that worked. I am in the middle of butt fuck nowhere and I have no idea if I’m even heading in the right direction or not.

I can hear creepers hissing in the distance, but luckily I haven’t run into any yet. I’ve actually been pretty lucky to not see any monsters so far.

The only upside is that I have a torch with me, so at least it’s not completely dark and the guys might be able to see it if they’re on the look out. Plus, I’ve still got my diamond sword. Better that than nothing. Although taking a map with me before I left would have been  _very_ beneficial.

I briefly wonder if they’ve started searching for me yet, just seconds before something huge falls from the tree above me and it hangs down in front of my face.

Before I can even see what it is I have my diamond sword drawn and pointed at the thing.

My eyes widen when dim glow of the torch reflects off of an upside down _person_. A guy, to be specific.

He’s hanging upside down from the tree branch effortlessly, just watching me with a small and innocent smile on his face. His face is completely level to mine, and I back away a few steps to get some space away from him.

We just stay there, completely still for a few moments. Neither of us moving expect for to study each others appearance. He seems just as curious as I do, but I have to put an end to it. It’s just getting weird.

I take a step back, but he doesn’t move other than cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"Uh… hello?" I question, and nudge his shoulder with my sword reluctantly. Even though it sounds foolish, I’m having a hard time believing that there’s actually a real guy hanging upside down in front of me.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen another person. Usually we’ll get people travelling through the forest who stumble upon our little city. We always have to have our guard up in case they’re bandits or thieves. But so far we’ve never gotten any of our supplies or resources stolen. That doesn’t mean we should slack though.

He just looks like a normal guy. He’s pretty skinny, messy light brown hair, probably a little bit taller than me. It’s hard to tell though since he’s hanging like that. The weirdest thing about him is his clothes.

His pants and shirt look pretty sloppily made, but it’s also easy to tell that it’s actual creeper skin, which is really odd. He’s covered in dirt and soot, but what concerns me is the amount of cuts and bruises that are decorating his body.Why would somebody be in the middle of the woods at night, all by themselves, dressed like a creeper!?

I look around, trying not to lift the torch away from the boy in case he decides to attack. All I can see of the surrounding area is darkness without the light, and even if there was light, all I’d end up seeing would be trees.

Where could he have come from? Why is he in a tree in the first place?

I’m snapped out of my thoughts when he swiftly jumps down from the tree, somehow flipping himself around in the air and landing on his feet without any hassle or indication of effort. I take a step back, but keep my sword up in case I have to attack.

Without even hesitating he looks up at me and gives me a huge grin.

"Stay back!" I yell once he takes a step towards me.

The smile doesn’t leave his face, but his eyes widen in amazement once he sees my sword. Usually I’d be a lot swifter, but this whole situation is kind of freaking me out. When he grabs the sword from my hands, I’m about to jump and grab it back from him. But surprisingly, he doesn’t hold it like he’s about to attack.

He just studies it as though he’s never seen one before.

I don’t think he’s dangerous.

Maybe thoughts like that will lead to my own death, but I think I just need to trust my gut here. There’s something odd about this guy. I’m still hesitant to trust him though, since I know nothing about him. He must have other people with him.

How could one person survive out here this long. It doesn’t look like he has any weapons and, judging by the way he’s looking at mine, he’s never seen one before either.

"That’s my sword." I state, "Give it back."

He looks up from it to give me a curious look.

"Hello? Can you hear me? I said give it back, you fucking moron." I yell, and make a grab for it. Without even flinching he just takes a step back so that I claw at the empty air where he once stood.

He goes back to look at the weapon, holding it closer to his face to see it better.

"Do you understand what I’m saying at all?" I question. It’s like dealing with a toddler.

Maybe he’s deaf. But he’s also never spoken a word this entire time. Deaf  _and_ mute? Doesn’t seem very likely. How could somebody survive out here by themselves without hearing. It’d be impossible to know if a creeper is sneaking up on you.

He doesn’t look up this time, but he turns the sword so that he can look at the handle. Once the blade part touches his bare fingers he lets it go like it’s fire. It drops to the ground with a slight clang noise, and I roll my eyes before picking it up and then putting it into the sheath on my back.

"Yeah, nice going, butter fingers." I mutter. When I look back at him I see that he’s cradling his hand with a concerned expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

I want to curse at myself for being so worried. It’s just the pitiful look on his face makes me want to help him, and make sure he’s alright. I’m like a fucking mama bird watching out for her baby.

He holds his palm up, and I can see the blood dripping down his hand where he held the blade. He’s worse than a toddler. Even little kids know not to touch sharp things with their bare hands.

I put the torch down by our feet so that we can still sort of see each other in the darkness.

"Nice job." I scoff at him, and easily rip off a strip of fabric from my own shirt. I could easily just get Ryan to fix it once I get back home. It’s an old ratty one anyways, I probably would have ended up throwing it out after today.

Good thing I don’t give two shits about my clothing. The only thing I really care about is my bear skin jacket, that I’m also currently wearing right now. Bears are rare to come across, and even harder to kill. So wearing the skin of one is pretty cool.

I move to take his hand, but he quickly pulls it out of my reach, then cradles it toward his chest. He’s not smiling anymore, and just looks worried.

"It’s okay, I won’t hurt you." I try to say as softly as I can. It’s not very often that I have to be sweet and soothing for somebody else’s benefit.

Why the fuck do I even care about this guy anyway? Who the fuck is he? I could easily just leave him here and continue on, but something is pulling me towards helping him out somehow. I don’t know why, but I might as well just go with it.

I am lost in the forest after all, any company is better than no company.

I don’t reach forward to grab his hand anymore, but I just hold my own out. It takes a few moments, but eventually he relents and softly lays his injured hand in mine.

I give him a soft smile to let him know that he can trust me. He gives me a toothy grin back. I make a mental note that he changes emotions really quick.

"Man, you really banged yourself up with that sword." I mutter, while trying to examine the cut as best as I can. I’m not very good at healing or potions, usually Ryan deals with that kind of stuff. We don’t call him the genius of our group for nothing.

But since it’s still bleeding I decide to just wrap it up with the strip of material like I planned to do. It only takes a few moments, but once I knot it off the material is already soaked with blood.

Maybe I can take him back to Achievement City with me and get Ryan to fix him up. I’m talking about this guy as though he’s a lost puppy or stray cat.

Once I look back up at him, he grins even wider than before and looks at the makeshift band-aid with happiness. I just watch with amusement, at least when he studies this he won’t end up injuring himself.

How far away is he from his home? I know that there are other villages out there, but there aren’t any for miles from Achievement City. I couldn’t have gotten  _that_ lost.

"Do you understand me at all? Do you know English?" I ask, trying to speak slowly as though that could help him understand.

He just watches me with amused confusion, but I can tell that the words hold no meaning to him.

"Perfect." I groan, and roll my eyes in frustration. Only I would be unlucky enough to be lost in the woods with nobody to help me other than some strange creeper guy that doesn’t speak English, and has never seen a sword in his life.

"Perfect!" a voice chirps happily.

My eyes widen and I look up to see the boy’s smiling once again, as though he’s proud of himself.

"Did you just talk!?" I can’t stop myself from yelling, and I try to remind myself to keep it down. It’s night time and if any monsters come around then it isn’t going to be a pretty sight.

"Did you just talk." he repeats, mimicking the rise and fall of the words perfectly. If he doesn’t speak English, then he’s an expert at sounding like he’s fluent in it.

The only weird thing about it is that he talks with a British accent, the words rolling off of his tongue like honey. It makes me want to smack him because it just makes him even more attractive than he already is.

"So you  _can_  speak. Okay good.” I nod.

"So you can sp-" he begins, but I cut him off by covering his mouth with my hand.

"No." I state, slowly as though scolding a child. I’m about ready to rip my hair out with frustration. His face drops in confusion, but he doesn’t move my hand away from his mouth, or attempt to back away from it.

He just stands there, watching me. I don’t waver in my glare. I just continue to stare right into his eyes. It’s hard to make out what color they are when the only source of light is the small torch I’ve stuck into the ground at our feet.

I feel his smile forming behind my palm, and the playful mischief in his eyes entrance me. I move my hand away and let out a chuckle as he throws his head back in silent laughter. The only noise he makes are these small high pitched squeaking noises that are actually really adorable. He’s very easily amused.

"You probably don’t understand this," I say, "but I’m Michael."

"Michael." he repeats, his British like accent butchers the names and makes it sound funny. He seems almost confused by the word. It’s like he understands that it’s more important than the others, and he’s wracking his brain for the reason why.

"Yeah. Michael." this time I point my finger towards myself.

His eyes widen with realization and he nods quickly, “Michael!” he points at me too.

Judging by that glint in his eye and the excited smile, he understands that it’s my name.

"Yes!" I grin, nodding along with him.

"Gavin!" he states loudly, pointing at himself.

It’s a word I’ve never heard before in my entire life, and for a moment I think that maybe he’s trying to speak to me in his native tongue. His face drops and his eyebrows furrow in frustration once he realizes that I don’t get it.

"Michael." he points at me.

I nod, understanding that part. It’s like he’s flipped the situation so now I’m the child-like one instead of him.

He turns his finger away from me, and points to himself once again, “Gavin.”

Realization dawns on me and I want to smack myself in the forehead. “Oh! I get it. Your name is Gavin?”

He nods enthusiastically, probably not understanding my sentence, but my facial expressions must be enough for him to read.

"Your name is Gavin!" he states, repeating my words.

"No, no, no." I mutter, and pinch the bridge of my nose while squeezing my eyes tight. I know that he understands, and is just re-saying what I’m saying in an attempt to communicate, but I need to teach him the basics if I’m going to continue this…  _whatever_  this is.

"No?" he asks softly, his smiling dropping once he realizes that he’s wrong. At least he understands the difference between yes and no.

“ _My_  name is Michael.” I state clearly, and then look him in the eyes, trying to convey without words that I want him to go from that. It’s difficult to speak to somebody if you don’t know their language.

Confusion clouds his eyes for a few minutes, and I can practically see the gears in his brain trying to figure it out. “ _My_  name… is Gavin?” he tries, pointing towards himself. “ _Your_  name… is Michael?”

"Yes!" I shout in celebration, throwing my hands up.

He’s a fast learner.

Gavin squeals excitedly while bouncing slightly in place. It’s pretty adorable, if I have to admit it.

The happy moment is ruined when I hear that familiar uneasy hissing sound.

There are creepers nearby, and they’ve probably heard us. It won’t be very hard to find us, especially since we have a light.

I’m overcome with the surge to protect Gavin and help him get to safety with me. It’s the same feeling I get if I’m out with any of the other guys and we run into trouble along the way.

He’s just so oblivious and innocent that I don’t think he’d be able to protect himself in situations like this if he was on his own. I have no idea how he’s stayed alive so long.

But that’s something to worry about another time. Right now we’ve gotta get out of here.

"Come on, Gavin." I say, picking up the torch from the ground, and grabbing his unbandaged hand into my own. "There are creepers nearby, we need to get someplace safe."

I’m about to start running, but then I realize that he’s not moving at all from his place. Not even when I give his hand a gentle tug. I sigh angrily, “Come on!”

He seems almost amused at my behavior, and gives me a look that conveys the message ‘What’s wrong? Why are you so scared?’

I can hear the hissing get louder, and I know that there’s probably a pack of them nearby. Goddammit, this is seriously not the time to be going over the danger of creepers with an idiotic non-English speaking man child in the middle of the fucking woods!

I grow too frustrated to be nice to him, and roughly pull his hand so that he has no choice but to topple towards me. I’m not going to let him get killed because of his own incompetence.

He makes a strangled whining noise and I roll my eyes. What a baby. It’s like when you tell a dog not to eat chocolate because it’s bad for them, but they don’t understand that and whimper when you take it away.

I begin running, still pulling him along after me. He’s stumbling and trying his hardest to keep up, but I know I can’t slow down. The creeper noises are closing in, and I know if it was daylight we would have seen them by now.

I frantically move around the torch, trying to get as much light in front of me as possible so that I can see which direction I’m heading in. It would be pretty rotten luck to bang into a tree right now.

Trees should be the least of my concern though, because I immediately come to a halt when I see a creeper standing no more than five feet in front of us. Gavin crashes into my back and it almost sends us both toppling to the ground, but luckily I’m able to hold us upright.

I’m about to run to the left, but I see another creeper there. Fuck, there’s another one on the right of us too. They’re closing in, but as far as I can tell there are only three or four. Our chances are slim, but that’s better than nothing at all.

It’s time to fight, so I let go of Gavin’s hand, and put the torch in it instead. I hear him gasp loudly when I take my sword out of it’s sheath on my back. I don’t pay any attention to him though, and hold it out, ready to battle our way through this mess. I’m not prepared to go down without a fight.

"No!" Gavin cries. I can hear worry, fear, and panic in his voice, and it confuses me for a moment. Does he not understand what’s going on? He must have  _seen_ a creeper before since he’s wearing the skin of one. If you’ve seen a creeper then you must know how dangerous they are.

He reaches forward and grabs the handle of the sword, then tries to point it downward and away from the creatures. I don’t even notice that they’ve stopped coming near us.

"Gavin! Fucking stop, you idiot!" I yell, trying to get the sword out of his reach. It’s not hard to pull it away from him since he’s only able to hold it with one hand.

"No, Michael!" he yells back, forcing me to look into his eyes. I can’t explain what it is, but something about the passionate worry in his eyes makes me stop.

We stay there for a few seconds, just staring at each other.

He takes a hesitant step back, still watching me, making sure that I don’t make a move.

I’m just frozen in shock and confusion. What the hell is he doing? Does he have a death wish?

Gavin turns away from me, and faces the creeper that’s nearest to us. He walks towards it a little as though there’s no need to be afraid of it, and begins hissing.

My eyes go wide and my jaw is slack at the sound of it. Gavin is making the exact same noises as a creeper. That eerie hissing noise that I’m so used to hearing and running from. The only emotion I can process through my head right now is shock and amazement.

And then the creeper starts hissing right back, as though they’re having a goddamn conversation! The other creepers that are surrounding us join in and Gavin turns to hiss at each one, as though he’s trying to explain something to all of them.

The fucking guy doesn’t know English but he knows  _creeper_!?

I’m knocked out of my shocked state though when one starts to walk towards Gavin a little more. They were already a little too close to him for comfort, but seeing them move towards him makes me panic. He holds out his hand to touch it’s head and judging by the smile on his face he doesn’t understand what that could mean. Creepers explode if you touch them or get too close!

Without thinking it through I yell, “Gavin, no!” at the top of my lungs, raising my sword up again, ready to fight them away from him.

Chaos erupts.

The sound of my yell must cause the creeper to panic, because it backs away from Gavin quickly, but I still see it flashing like a TNT.

Before I close my eyes, bracing myself for the impact of the explosion, I see Gavin run after me. Fear and panic washing through his eyes once again. He grabs my hand, much like I did with him a few moments earlier, and he pulls me along quickly, planning to run away before it can erupt.

But it’s too late, and the creeper explodes.

I feel myself being thrown backwards. I can’t make out anything other than the loud boom that leaves my ears painfully ringing. Everything’s moving so fast in front of my eyes that I can’t make out what anything is. I see bright lights, and darkness whiz past at once like some kind of incomprehensible show.

I close my eyes once I land and I’m pretty sure I’ve landed on the hard ground, even though my back feels numb to it. For a few glorious seconds I can’t see or hear anything. It’s peaceful, and quiet. No worries about Gavin, creepers, or my friends that are probably still out looking for me crosses my mind.

Then it all comes back once I open up my eyes. I see Gavin looking down at me, he’s yelling stuff but my hears are still ringing so I can’t hear him very well. Just the incomprehensible echoes of sound that don’t match up with his lips.

He’s really blurry too, so I blink my eyes a few times to focus on him a little more. It seems to work, and I’m able to tell that he’s okay.

It doesn’t look like he’s taken any damage from the explosion. I can only pray that it didn’t set off the other creepers or we’ll be in an even bigger battle field than we already are.

But I don’t think about that stuff right now. I focus on Gavin, trying to look deeper into his eyes. Letting the panicked concern I can see swimming in them relax me more and more. I seem delirious, and I briefly wonder if this is what it feels like to die.

I look away from his eyes and toward his mouth, which is moving frantically. I still can’t see much of him, and I assume it’s because the torch is almost completely out. My image of him gets darker and darker as I keep focusing on his lips.

It’s only right before I black out that I finally hear what he’s been screaming out the entire time.

"Michael!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Michael!" a panicked and desperate voice pulls me out of unconsciousness.

A groggy numbness spreads throughout my brain as soon as I hear the words. It makes me want to sit up, but I can’t even find the energy to move a single muscle.

I try to open my eyes but they feel so heavy, so instead I attempt to give a verbal response. It only ends up coming out as a weak mumble though, and I doubt anybody could understand what I said.

"Come on, we gotta get him inside."

My head is throbbing and I can’t feel my arm. If it wasn’t for all of the familiar voices shouting around me, I’d probably just fall back asleep. But I don’t want to worry them, they sound really concerned.

"Michael, I know you can hear me. We’re just bringing you to your house, okay?" I hear Geoff say. His voice sounds comforting, as though he doesn’t want me to panic.

How badly am I injured? I don’t feel  _that_ sore. I feel myself being lifted off of the ground that I was lying on, and then I feel the undeniable sensation of pain rip through me instantaneously.

I let out a loud hiss at the feeling in my arms and legs, and my head feels like it’s about to explode. I wish they would have just left me on the ground. Sure, it was uncomfortable but it was better than this. I can’t help but thrash around at the stabbing sensation I feel in my chest and Geoff holds me tighter so that I won’t fall.

"It’s going to be okay, buddy. Ryan’s going to get some potions and we’re going to fix you right up." Geoff sounds so fatherly and sincere that it makes a bit of the pain dissolve. I stop moving around and try to ignore the burning that’s torturing my body.

And even though I know I should be fighting to stay awake I can’t do it anymore, and allow the exhaustion to wash over me as I drown in it.

*

When I wake up my head is still throbbing but not as painfully as before. The bright sunlight that’s pouring through the windows stings my eyes and makes me want to close them again. But I don’t because I see Ray sitting in the chair next to my bed, fast asleep. His head is resting on the bed with me though, and his face is mashed up against a pillow. I snicker at his snoring.

I have no idea what time it is, but I assume it’s morning. Even though it’s painful as hell, I manage to pull myself up so that I’m sitting up in the bed with my back against the wall.

The movement makes Ray’s eyes snap open, and he sits up straight in the chair immediately. He looks around the room wildly as though there’s an intruder, but as soon as his eyes rest on me he relaxes.

"Holy shit, man." he says quietly, "You’re awake."

"What happened last night?" my voice sounds a little croaky.

"We have no idea. We found you in the middle of the logo." I’m thankful that Ray’s only told me a small portion because just that is enough to confuse the hell out of me.

I attempt to process that information even though this headache is making it practically impossible. “I was just  _lying there_?”

"Yeah. We managed to take you back into your house and heal you up a bit. You’re arm is messed up though."

I look down and notice that my right arm is wrapped up with a white cloth. Strange I hadn’t noticed that sooner. I lift the blankets off of myself to check my legs, they hurt last night too. There’s no visible injuries, but my left shin is bandaged up as well.

"I’m going to go get the rest of the guys." Ray informs me as he gets up.

"What? Was it your turn to stay with me or something?" I mock playfully with a smirk on my lips. The idea seems ridiculous, but he doesn’t smile back.

He nods, “We didn’t know if you were going to make it. There was a lot of blood.”

"Blood!? From what? My arm?"

He shakes his head slowly, and looks deep in thought. Probably trying to figure out how to break the news to me gently. “Lift up your shirt.” he murmurs.

I give him a confused look. I’m not feeling any pain from my chest or stomach. Even though I’m sort of hesitant to do so, I look down and raise up the material.

My eyes widen as I see that my entire torso is wrapped with the same white bandage, but it’s stained with dried blood that soaked through.

I can’t feel any pain from it, but just the sight is enough to make me gap in shock. How the hell did this even happen? Was I attacked last night?

"Holy shit." I murmur, too amazed to react any louder, "What the fuck?"

While I stare at my bandages, Ray leans out the door and yells to the other guys that I’m awake. The loud noise makes my head hurt even more, but I manage to ignore it because I’m still in shock.

I can’t remember anything from last night. Only leaving to go hunting, and then getting lost as it got darker. Everything else is a blur and I’m hoping that it’ll clear up soon because I’m wracking my brain trying to come up with an answer.

All this thinking probably isn’t good for me right now, but I keep feeling like I’m forgetting something important.

"Oh fuck, you’re awake!" I hear somebody say, and I look up to see the rest of my friends piling into my house. They all look so relieved that I’m alive.

"Are youokay?" Geoff asks, while Ryan goes over to the table to look through the potions.

He must have brought them last night after they took me in from outside. I can’t imagine how many potions they used on me last night.

"Yeah," I say slowly, "I feel fine. Just a little tired, and I have this horrible headache."

Ryan nods and picks out a blue potion. “Here, this’ll help.”

It has a sour taste, but as soon as I swallow down a mouthful my head starts to feel better, so I down the entire bottle in a matter of seconds.

Ryan tells me to take off my shirt so that he can change the bandages on my chest and I comply. It still doesn’t hurt, but I assume that it’s only a matter of time.

"Do you know what happened to me last night?" I question them. Taking off your shirt with one hand is a lot trickier than I thought. "Because I don’t remember anything."

Geoff sighs and sits in the chair that Ray was in earlier, “No. You were just laying in the middle of town bleeding. We have no idea how you got there. We’d all been out searching for you, and the only reason we found you in the middle of town was because we needed to come back for more weapons.”

What the hell. I couldn’t have gotten there by myself if my injuries were this bad.

I focus on Ryan picking out various potions and moving them away from the others on the table. Maybe I’m a lot more banged up than I thought I was if all of this is necessary.

"Geoff, Jack." he gets their attention, "Hold him down. This might hurt a bit."

Ah, fuck.

I squeeze my eyes shut as the two guys come over and hold me down on the bed by my shoulders. I’m not sure what Ryan’s going to do, but if he says it’s going to hurt… then I know very well that it’s going to hurt.

There’s nothing for a few moments, just the feeling of the bandage around my chest being shifted around. It hurts a little, but it doesn’t compare to the feeling that comes after that.

I start screaming and thrashing around before I even register the pain myself. My body must be reacting before my own head. But once it catches up, I can’t even feel any other part of my body. I know I must be trying to fight Geoff and Jack to let me go, as though it’ll stop the pain, but their hold on me is too strong.

"Almost done." I hear someone say. I assume it’s Ryan, but I can’t bring myself to even think about what his words mean.

All I can feel is the pain clawing at my body and refusing to go unheard. Like it’s desperate for attention and wants nothing more than for me to suffer. It might honestly be the worst pain I’ve ever experienced, but luckily it ends quickly.

It slowly washes away, and the only thing left is the soft hum of my own skin feeling tender and sore if I so much as move a muscle.The pressure on my chest doesn’t leave, but it’s still a lot more pleasant than whatever the fuck just happened before that.

Geoff and Jack still hold me down as the sensation starts to fade away. My violent screams quiet down and eventually the only sound in the room is my heavy breathing.

I don’t open my eyes yet, and just allow myself to get lost in the relief of my body not being in pain anymore. Jack and Geoff’s grip on my arms go more and more slack until they finally release me. It hurts where they were holding, and it wouldn’t surprise me if bruises form there. I did thrash around pretty roughly.

I don’t even make the decision to open my eyes, and just do it automatically. The worried and concerned faces of my friends make me feel guilty, but I know that it’s not my fault.

"Feeling better?" Ryan asks. I notice that he has an empty potion bottle in his hands, and I assume that’s what he used on my chest. Whether it’s what caused the pain, or what destoryed it, I don’t even want to know.

I’m still out of breath and I feel a bit loopy, but I manage to nod. Every few seconds everything goes a bit blurry, so I blink harshly to bring my vision back to normal.

"Holy fuck, Ryan. What the hell  _was_  that?” Ray asks. Judging by his facial expression, he’s still in shock from bearing witness to that.

"Eh, you know." he shrugs it off, and turns back to the potions table.

That’s comforting.

"Sometimes Ryan scares me." Geoff mutters.

It’s mostly true. He is the one who has the cow named Edgar locked into a hole in his house. He’ll say some pretty creepy stuff sometimes, but that doesn’t mean we don’t trust him.

"Calm down, it was just an advanced healing potion." Ryan says, examining my chest. Out of my peripheral vision I can see that the bandage isn’t there anymore, and the color of it is replaced with shades of red.

I finally muster up the courage to look down at it myself.

Any area of my chest that isn’t covered by the large wound is covered with dried blood. There’s no huge holes in my chest like somebody stabbed me or I was impaled, but it’s just like the skin was ripped off and destroyed.

Ryan continues to tend to it with potions and other things, but I don’t even feel it anymore. Even just watching it, I can see it healing and scabs are already beginning to form. What the hell would we ever do without potions?

"Holy shit…" I murmur once again, still watching my own chest heal slowly. It’s weird because it looks like it should hurt, but it doesn’t.

"We’re thinking that a creeper blew up next to you, and the explosion almost killed you. Don’t know how you survived if it managed to do  _that_  to you.” Jack mutters.

"A creeper?" I whisper, and I feel my eyes widen as some memories start to form. Like that one word was just a trigger, "There  _was_  a creeper…”

My minds flashes back to last night, seeing the creepers surrounding me in the trees, and the only things I had were a torch, my diamond sword, and…

The other guys raise their eyebrows and start asking questions but I don’t pay any attention to them.

The memories begin to flood my brain. I don’t even give myself time to process them or think them over before I try to explain it.

"There…there was this boy… this creeper boy." I start off, my eyebrows furrowed in concentration as I attempt to remember it. My brains throbs as I unlock more and more memories, but I ignore it. This is important.

I remember his face being illuminated only by the dim glow of the torch I was holding. His messy light brown hair, that I thought was only sticking upwards because he was hanging upside down. But even when he was right side up, gravity didn’t cause it to falter in the slightest. And I remember the way he spoke, with that British sounding accent that almost made me weak in the knees.  _Almost_.

"Creeper boy?" Jack’s question takes me away from thought of the boy, and I’m reminded that I’m still with all of them.

"Yeah. He was dressed like one… And he didn’t know what my sword was and accidentally cut his hand with it." I continue to spew off the memories as they come tumbling back into the accessible part of my brain.

I look up to see everybody looking at each other with confused expressions. It’s only when I see the tiny amount of pity hidden within them that I get frustrated.

"It’s  _true_ , you assholes.” I yell at them, “He was there, I remember him. But then we ran into a bunch of creepers or something, and one exploded.” My memory is still a little hazy, but it’s probably just because I had only woken up not long ago.

"It’s okay, Michael. Just get some rest and we’ll talk about it when you wake up." Geoff reassures, but I know he’s just saying it so I won’t argue anymore.

I sigh with annoyance, but I know that there’s no use to continue. Besides, I am feeling pretty tired. All that screaming and agonizing pain can really put a guy to sleep.

"Fine, whatever. Get the hell out of my house." I mutter, and allow myself to relax into my bed.

The guys’ smirk at my usual behavior, probably just relieved that I’m still the same old Michael and I’m not dead out in the woods somewhere.

I close my eyes, and don’t even watch them leave. I can feel myself slipping back into sleep as soon as they shut, and I don’t let myself fight it like I want to.

"Take a map next time, you dumbass." Ray says before I hear the door close.

I smile at his comment, and let myself fall into a deep painless sleep where the image of a mysterious boy dressed as a creeper invades my dreams.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to Ryan and his amazing skill with potions, it didn’t take me very long to heal. My broken arm was fixed within three days, and my leg was back to normal within two.

But the healing on my chest was still a two week process, which really sucked.

Geoff refused to let me play in our weekly competitions (which we affectionately call  _Let’s Plays_ ), so I had to sit on the sidelines and watch everybody else have fun just because I wasn’t deemed healthy enough yet.

I understand his concern, and I do kind of agree with him. But it just sucks not having anything to do.

The only upside is that if I ask the guys’ for anything they’ll bring it to me like servants. I take advantage of that. It’s nice to have my every want and need fulfilled just with a few whiny complaints.

"Jack! I’m hungry!" I’d cry out from my house as though I’m a fussy toddler. The more helpless I sound, the better than chance of getting what I want.

Internally I’d be giggling because I know if he refuses or tells me to suck it up and do it myself, Geoff or Ryan will tell him that I shouldn’t be moving around so much.

"Get you’re own damn food!" he yells back.

I can see him from my bedroom window talking to Ray, who smirks because he knows how this is going to end.

"But I’m in pain." I drag out the last word in a moan.

Usually I wouldn’t let myself look so weak and pitiful, but trying to tough through it isn’t going to benefit me in any way. At least by doing this I’m getting everything I want without much effort.

"Goddammit." I hear him say before stomping off to get me food.

It’s been fun being able to use them as my servants, and I think I deserve it. I’m so damn bored all the time. There’s seriously nothing to do when you’re injured, besides force your friends to do your biddings.

At least with all of this free time, I’ve been able to think more about that boy I met in the woods.

I’ve spoken about him a few times. Usually when I was talking to each of them individually, but they all just seemed concerned for my mental health, and would tell me that I need to stop thinking about it.

I didn’t tell them that his name is Gavin. I’ve liked having that small bit of information to myself. Something that they can’t destroy and say isn’t real. It’s comforting to know that at least his name isn’t tainted by their disbelief.

The rest of the guys’ keep insisting that he’s not real, and that my mind’s just made up these memories to fill in the missing ones. But it’s not true.

I remember him.

My brain can’t conjure up an entire person I’ve interacted with. That just doesn’t make any damn sense.

If he is real then where could he be now? Is he even alive? What if that creeper explosion killed him? The only reason  _I_  survived was because we have potions and medical supplies.

If Gavin is out there on his own with nobody to help him besides himself, then he could have been slowly dying while I was here being pampered and brought back to health.

The thought of him crying to himself as he bleeds out on the forest floor makes me shiver. I don’t know why I even care so much about this guy, but there’s just something that makes me want to help him.

He’s so innocent and child-like. I can’t imagine him being able to hold his own against a fight with an endermen or zombie. Fuck, the guy probably doesn’t even know how to make a house.

The proof of his incompetence was right on his face when we met. He was covered with small bruises and cuts, and it looked like he’d been surviving out in the woods for days. I might have been the first person he’s seen in a long time. He did seem quite happy to meet me that night.

He couldn’t have died from the explosion, I sort of remember seeing his face before I blacked out that night. It’s still fuzzy, but I think I’d be able to recall if he was visibly in pain or not.

But every thought I have revolves around Gavin and if he’s hurt or not. I’m just constantly worrying about the fact that he’s probably out there all alone.

*

"Whatcha’ thinking about?" Ryan asks me.

I’ve basically been on house arrest throughout this whole thing. The only times I’m allowed to leave my own home is to watch the Let’s Plays.

Usually the guy’s will come over and we’ll joke around or just talk with me. But it’s the worst when everybody’s gone out doing their usual jobs. Then I’m stuck here with no company at all.

But right now while everybody is out doing who knows what, Ryan decided to stay here with me and do a check-up on my wounds. Which I’m thankful for because otherwise I would be so bored just sitting in my house all by myself _again_.

"Nothing." I mutter.

Ryan and I are pretty good friends.

Whenever we team up for a game we call ourselves  _Team Crazy Mad_ , and I hang out with him one on one just as much as I do with the other guys. He didn’t even hold a grudge against me for that one time I helped Edgar escape his basement prison.

"Is this about that guy you think you saw?" he questions.

I roll my eyes, “I don’t  _think_ I saw him. I  _know_  I saw him.”

It frustrates me when everybody thinks I’m insane.

"Okay, okay, no need to get angry." he smirks, examining my chest, which is almost completely scarred over. "Does it still hurt?"

It’s stopped hurting about a week ago. For the first few days I just laid in bed, finding it hard to move because it would irritate the wound. But now it’s healed up so quickly and successfully that I’m able to do almost everything I’ve done before the incident.

"No, I feel fine." I answer honestly with a shrug.

"Good." he nods, "We shouldn’t need to bandage it anymore, and I think you should be healthy enough to participate in this weeks Let’s Play."

My eyes widen in relief and appreciation, “Seriously!?”

"Yup, you should be all good to go within a day or two."

It’s Tuesday now, which means that Geoff is out building the new set for the game. I’m so relieved that I’m going to be able to have fun with the rest of the guys that I could just jump for joy.

"Awesome." I grin.

He chuckles at my excitement, “So about this creeper guy…”

I sigh as soon as the words leave his mouth. It’s so annoying having to listen to everybody say that I just dreamed the whole thing, or that it was just my imagination. I’ve heard it too many times, and it’s starting to piss me off.

"I know, I know." I mutter, not looking him in the eyes, "You don’t think he’s real."

"I personally think your brain conjured up the whole thing. You were pretty delirious when we found you."

"But I didn’t just imagine him, Ryan! I remember talking to him, and laughing with him, and bandaging up his hand when he cut it." I argue.

Out of all of the guys, Ryan is one of the smartest. I know that the whole story isn’t very believable, but I just wish more than anything that  _somebody_  would have my back. I’ve spent the entire time I’ve been injured retelling it to anybody that would listen.

I don’t blame them though, if one of the guys told me the same story then I wouldn’t even give it a second thought.

"I’m sorry, Michael. But a person being able to speak creeper? Living out in the woods by himself? No weapons or knowledge of them? It just doesn’t sound very likely." a look of pity and worry radiates off of his face, and I hate it.

"I’m not crazy, Ryan."

"I know you aren’t. Get some rest, okay? I’ll tell Geoff that you’re almost fully healed, and I’ll even try to convince him to let you go out tomorrow."

He’s obviously just trying to stop my arguments about the creeper thing, and it works. The prospect of being able to go outside and do things on my own again is too much to pass up.

"Fine." I mutter.

*

Thankfully Geoff listened to Ryan’s words, and now I was out doing easy little jobs with the others.

It’s not like I needed to be doing anything, but I was just so sick of feeling like I wasn’t contributing.

I was allowed to accompany everybody while they were out getting wood. I didn’t do much besides just walk with them, but it was still being out and about. The fresh air feels a lot nicer when you’ve only been experiencing it twice for the past two weeks.

I think the only reason we’re all going out together is because Geoff realized how much I’ve missed hanging out with everybody and doing stuff like this.

We never get wood from the forest around Achievement City. We always venture further out into the forest so that we aren’t chopping down all of the trees around us. This isn’t a Dr. Seuss book.

"How long have we been out here?" Jack asks, casually resting the blade of his diamond sword on his shoulder pads.

"Probably a few hours." Geoff responds, "Ray what time is it?"

We made Ray in charge of keeping track of time. We don’t want to stay out too late and be out here after sunset. I’ve only just recovered from my injuries and I wouldn’t be too happy to go through that recovery process all over again.

He pulls up his arm to briefly glance at the watch on his wrist, “It’s four twenty.” he responds lazily, “blaze it.”

"Why don’t we head back, we’ve got enough wood." I suggest.

In all honesty I’m getting kind of tired. I’m not used to walking such long distances after being on bed rest for such a long period of time. My legs are starting to ache and I could kill somebody for a glass of water.

But I don’t mention that. I’ve only just been given this freedom, and if I tell them the truth then I’ll just be back to where I started. My old wounds aren’t giving me any grief or pain, but I know that the guys’ would insist on me taking some more days off if I so much as complained.

I’m actually thankful now that I’m the only one that didn’t take a weapon with me. I’d be exhausted if I had to lug around a diamond sword with me all of this time.

"I agree. We don’t want to get attacked by Michael’s imaginary boyfriend." Ray jokes with a smirk.

"Shut the fuck up, Ray." I glare, "He’s neither my boyfriend nor imaginary."

When he laughs I can’t stop myself from joining him. Ray and I are the youngest out of all of our friends, so we always get along.

Everybody else laughs too, and it makes me roll my eyes with a smile. They never take the whole Gavin thing seriously, but at least they aren’t pitying me anymore for it.

"I think Michael might be weirdly attracted to creepers." Ryan interjects, "that’s he made up a creeper boyfriend."

"The only person here with a fetish for woodland creatures is  _you_ , Ryan.” I chuckle.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." he denies, which causes everybody to let out a noise of amused disbelief.

"You have a cow locked into the floor of your home." Jack points out.

"Hey." Ryan states in a serious voice, "Edgar is in there to protect you."

That all causes us to look at him with cocked eyebrows or wide eyes.

"Ryan is only creepy when he’s around animals." Geoff says what we’re all thinking.

One day we’ll have to address this issue, but we can ignore it for now.

We finally turn around and begin the journey back to Achievement City. I’m not sure how long the trip back will be, but we’ve definitely been walking for about an hour or two.

Jack’s watching the map to make sure that we aren’t straying off the path we’ve walked, and I’m thankful that it’s not my job. I’m shit with maps and navigation, which is proven by the amount of times I’ve gotten lost in these woods.

"Do you think Michael would lock his imaginary creeper boyfriend in his floor like Edgar?" Ray asks, shooting me a forced innocent look. I glare at him while everybody chuckles.

"Oh, definitely." Geoff says.

"For the last time, Gavin is none of those things." I state, and it’s only until the words leave my mouth that I realize my mistake.

"Gavin!?"

"He has a name now?!"

"Oh my gosh, Michael’s boyfriend has a name!"

They all begin mocking me with fake squeals of excitement as though they’re teenage girls’ at a slumber party, then they all laugh loudly at both me and how ridiculous they sound.

I close my eyes and groan to myself as we continue walking. Why did I have to slip up and say his name? Why?

I try to ignore it in an attempt to not lash out at them as we walk.

Even though I’m not  _really_ that mad at them, they see that I’m not amused by their antics and begin to tone it down a little. I’m thankful for that, but once the annoyance washes away I’m left with the feeling of dismay.

Gavin isn’t real. As much as I wish he was, it just couldn’t make any sense for him to exist. Maybe I just went crazy after being stuck in the dark woods for so long, seeing nothing but unfamiliar trees pass by my eyes for hours on end.

I’m past the point of trying to convince them that Gavin exists. They aren’t going to believe me, and I don’t blame them. I’m starting to doubt it myself. I did meet him about ten minutes before I was practically blown to bits by a creeper, and I didn’t even remember him as soon as I woke up. Is it really so unrealistic that I dreamt up the entire thing?

It pains me to think so, because I wish he was real. I want to talk to him more, and see that ridiculous goofy grin spread across his face again. He was so annoying and frustrating, but something about it was so funny and boyishly charming.

It makes me depressed to think that the first person that I cared about and really wanted to protect, other than my friends, didn’t actually exist at all.

"Ah, come on, Michael." Geoff ruffles my hair playfully, trying to lighten my mood, "You know we’re just messing with ya’."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I mutter, mainly because I know it’s true.

Our entire friendship revolves around constantly making fun of each other or pulling mean pranks. I can’t actually get annoyed with them just for poking fun at my delusions because by next week I’ll probably be treating them even worse just for the sake of a laugh.

Without warning, Jack stops walking. It causes Ray to bump into him, and we all stop too.

"What is it?" Ryan asks.

Jack puts a finger to his lips to silent us, and continues to look around without a word. It’s obvious that’s he’s listening for something just by the concentration on his face.

"Did you guys hear that?" he finally asks.

We’re all hesitant to speak because we’re trying to listen too. Other than our chatter, it’s been relatively quiet in the forest today. We’re all straining our ears, hoping to catch what Jack might have heard.

"No, what?"

"I thought I heard a creeper." he explains quietly, still listening.

My heart does a small leap when I hear that word, and I internally scold myself for it. Am I seriously going to think about Gavin every time creepers are mentioned? I need to just forget about him and move on completely.

Then the sound of faint hissing hits my ears and, judging by the looks on my friends faces, they hear it too. The noise tickles my eardrums, and makes my hair stand on end.

A creeper’s hiss is like the universal noise for danger.

Everybody’s looking around trying to find out what direction it came from. But there’s no creeper in sight, which is both dangerous and scary.

The only noise I can hear is the soft sound of our breathing and shuffling around on the forest floor. The hissing has stopped, but I’m still listening for if it starts again.

Everybody’s holding up their diamond swords or pickaxe’s and bracing themselves for a fight. I’m stuck just crouching down along with them, and trying to scope out where it is. My eyes scan the forest but I can’t see any sign of danger.

It’s crazy how quickly we can go from casual mode to battle mode. Just seconds ago we were all laughing and joking, but now we’re ready to kick some serious ass.

Usually dealing with a creeper wouldn’t be such a big deal, but when you don’t know where it is, then it’s like a surprise bomb that could go off at any moment.

"Are we about to get ambushed?" Ray asks.

I didn’t even consider that possibility. I was running on the assumption that it was only one creeper, not a pack of them. This is one instance where more doesn’t mean merrier.

I’m reminded of the night I got lost in the forest, and the small pack of creepers that had surrounded me and… Well, I guess just me.

"I hope not," Geoff says, holding out his diamond sword like everybody else, ready to attack if a creeper shows it’s face, "the only person without a weapon to protect himself is-"

"Michael!" another voice yells.

I turn my head quickly at the sound of my voice just to see a flash of green as something jumps out at me from the tree above us.


	4. Chapter 4

Both the impact of hitting the forest ground, and Geoff yelling my name, is enough to disorient me for those few important seconds.

I squeeze my eyes shut as my back makes contact with the ground, and something lands on my chest. Pain spreads throughout the almost healed wound because of the abrupt weight that’s hit me.

When I open my eyes I see that a creeper is on top of me, and in those few painful seconds I can’t help but think that it’s probably all over. I’m seriously going to go out like a little bitch all because I don’t have a sword with me, and a creeper hopped on me like a bunny rabbit.

I still don’t understand how I was lucky enough to survive the creeper that attacked when I got lost in the woods. I was unbelievably lucky. Creepers are one of the most dangerous creatures out there. It’s hard to escape one once it’s got you on it’s radar.

Luckily my friends have much better reaction times that I do, and before my life has the chance to flash before my eyes, the creeper has been slaughtered by a group of diamond swords.

I can’t do anything but watch as the creeper is stabbed repeatedly. It struggles for a moment, flashing and inflating before it’s attempt to explode fails. It falls off of me and to the ground dead before it can do so.

The only sound is our sighs of relief and heavy breathing.

It’s difficult to register something that’s happened so fast, and I feel like my brain still hasn’t caught up. Maybe I’m just in shock.

"Fuck, man." Ray mutters, and offers a hand to me. I take it and let him hoist me off of the ground.

"Are you okay, Michael?" Ryan asks.

I nod. Other than my chest stinging a little, I feel perfectly fine. I might have shit my pants or had a mini heart attack, but other than that? Totally alright.

*

After we had returned home, Geoff requested to talk to me alone. He’s hardly ever this serious, and it’s weird to see him so protective like this. Usually he spends his time getting drunk, making dick jokes, and sleeping.

I know that he’s sort of taken on the position as our leader or whatever, but that doesn’t mean he has to blame me for things that I no control over. I didn’t _ask_ the creeper to jump on me.

"You see!" Geoff yells, throwing his hands over his head in exasperation, " _This_ is why you shouldn’t be going out and fucking around.”

I scoff and roll my eyes. I feel like a teenager that’s being scolded by his parents. Geoff has always been like a father figure to me, ever since I first met him. But sometimes it seems like he takes it too far and forgets that we aren’t actually related, and that I’m not actually his responsibility.

"Nothing happened."

"You’re damn right nothing happened!" he continues to holler, "Only because we were there to save your ass from that creeper!"

"Geoff, calm the fuck down." I’m pass the point of yelling at him, I know it won’t do much to help.

"No, I will not calm the fuck down."

"It wasn’t my fault! You told me that I couldn’t take a sword." I point out, crossing my arms across my chest and trying to look anywhere other than his face. It adds to the affect of being a teenager that’s been caught sneaking out late.

He lets out a loud annoyed groan, while pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut.

"I’m not a kid. You don’t have to worry about me so much, Geoff." I remind him, but he doesn’t seem anymore convinced.

"Yes, I do. When we found you in the middle of Achievement City that night, I thought you were  _dead_.” he stares me right in the eyes with such a serious face that I can’t bear look away.

I didn’t realize how much of an impact that must have had on Geoff. It’s just been the five of us for so long, and the thought of losing somebody even gives _me_  shivers. We all care about one another, but I didn’t know that it affected Geoff so deeply.

"I’m sorry." I murmur, looking down at my shoes.

I feel guilty even though I know it’s not my fault.

I hear him let out a defeated sigh, and I only look back up when he ruffles my hair affectionately then gives me a playful push. His way of saying that he’s still annoyed and frustrated, but it’s all out concern and worry.

"Just lay off the dangerous shit for a while. Okay, kid?" he asks, a small smile forming on his face.

He’s usually so laid back and calm, but if my safety is enough to make even _him_  stressed, then I think I can do him this one solid favor and be a little more careful from now on.

"Anything for daddy Geoff." I smirk, and he throws back his head in laughter.

*

I hate the fact that I’m being given simple and easy jobs now. I feel totally fine. My wounds have all healed, there’s no danger of them re-opening, and I am perfectly capable of doing whatever the other guys’ are doing.

So why the hell is Geoff treating me like I’m glass?

I mean honestly. He gave me the job to go pick apples. Fucking  _apples_. When do we even eat apples!? I don’t even know what a damn apple tastes like! But here I am. Picking them from a fucking tree.

I’m seriously less than twenty feet away from Achievement City.

I agreed to be more careful, but I told Geoff that I didn’t want to be treated like a baby anymore. That I was healthy and could handle myself. He reluctantly agreed, but then proceeded to give me the easiest (not to mention most pointless) job in existence.

His plan is flawed though. I could easily fall off of this step ladder and break my neck. That would sure make him feel like a piece of shit.

I should be out mining, collecting resources, or building. Hell, I’d even take hunting by myself again over this.

After being cooped up inside of my own house for two weeks, I want nothing more than to be with the other guys’ doing the more difficult or advanced jobs. Usually being given a free pass like this would be a good thing. But relaxing and finding excuses to slack off are only fun when it’s unallowed.

When he was discussing everybody’s job today, he just handed me a step ladder and bucket. “Here.” he had said, “Go pick apples.”

“ _Go pick apples_.” I mock under my breath as I pluck another fruit off of the branch.

Great, now I’m talking to myself. Maybe I really am going insane.

I don’t even know why I’m  _still_  picking apples, they’re just going to end up rotting in a corner somewhere. We’re never going to use them, and Geoff certainly isn’t going to check to see if I ‘did my job’ when they come back.

I sigh and roll my eyes before carelessly tossing it into the bucket on the ground. It misses and hits the rim with a soft clanging noise before rolling into the grass.

What do apples even contribute to society?

There is no reason for me to be given a job like this. It’s been about two days since that creeper attacked me. I’ve participated in the Let’s Play this week and nothing bad has come out of it. I’ve even held off on talking about Gavin so that they won’t think that I’m mentally unstable.

Fuck, I’ve just thought about him again.

I’ve been trying to push every thought about that creeper boy out of my mind. But it’s like every second he just pops back into it.

I just want to  _know_.

To know if he’s actually really or if I just dreamt up the whole thing. And if he is real, is he still alive? Is he safe?

I shake my head and scowl at myself. Why do I worry so much about a person that might not even exist? It doesn’t make any sense.

As I continue to pick apples I get lost in my thoughts. Just normal thoughts about Achievement City, the Lets Plays, my friends, and other things.

It’s still mid-afternoon, so I have no idea when the others will be back. I consider stopping this meaningless chore and just going back to my house. I doubt anybody will care. It’s not like we actually need apples for anything.

I step off of the step ladder, and as soon as my foot touches the ground I feel something hard hitting me square in the back.

I turn around instantly and look around the tree infested forest, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.

"What the fuck?" I murmur to myself, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

I look down to see what collided with me, and there’s a simple apple laying in the grass. It’s bright and rich red color clashes with the green surrounding it, and doesn’t succeed in anything other than making me more confused.

How did an apple hit me? It couldn’t have fallen off the tree. It felt more like somebody threw it.

Ah, of course.

I smirk, and pick the apple up. “Okay,” I yell, “You’re  _so_  funny. Come on out, Ray.”

I chuckle to myself as I look around, trying to scope out his body hiding behind the trunk of a tree. I hold up the apple, ready to throw it at him when I see him.

It’s strange that I didn’t hear the group returning to Achievement City. I’m not that far away, and it’s not like they’re ever quiet when altogether. But I’m not surprised at their antics.

Maybe the whole reason I was told to collect apples was so that we could have a fight with them. It might cause bruises, but the fun will be worth it. There’s nothing better than trying to seriously injure your friends with fruits and vegetables.

"Is it not Ray?" I call out after a few moments go by without any kind of response.

The suspense is the worst part about these things. I’m expecting somebody to just jump out from behind a tree and pelt me with apples. But I want to have the upper hand in this. I’m going to hit them first before they can get another shot at me.

I smirk and start walking towards the direction the apple was first thrown from. “Jack?”

There’s still no response. I have to bite my tongue to refrain myself from giggling. I’ve missed doing shit like this.

The best part about living in Achievement City with all of my friends is that we’re always bagging on each other and injuring one another for fun. We all have similar tastes when it comes to comedy, and none of us can deny that hurting one another for the sake of a joke is hilarious.

"Ryan?" I call out the name in a sing-songey tone, still slowly walking through the trees.

Another apple is thrown, but this time it lands at my feet. I laugh and pick that one up too. The more ammo the better.

Where could they be hiding? There’s only a few trees from the general area it came from that are close enough to get that kind of throwing rage. It wasn’t thrown very harshly, so they can’t be that far away.

I’m trying to pinpoint from what tree it could have came from when another apple is thrown. This one hits me in the shin.

I was lucky enough to be looking at the tree that they’re behind the exact second they threw it. So I even got a glimpse of their hand poking out for an instant. I smirk, and slowly make my way towards that tree.

It has a thick trunk, so it’d be easy for any of them to hide behind it.

"Geoff?" I call out his name in the same mocking tone I did with Ryan’s. Singing it out softly like a mother trying to coax her children to sleep. But instead I’m trying to coax out my friends so I can attack them with hard objects.

I wonder why they haven’t tried to attack me yet. They’ve had plenty of opportunists. I don’t care though, they’ve missed their window, and now the hunter has become the hunted. My hands eagerly clenching the apples, ready to throw them.

"Gotcha!" I yell out, jumping around to the side of the tree where they’re hiding.

My face drops and my arm lowers as I realize that there’s nobody there. The space that I thought would be taken up by one of my friends giggling to themselves like a little school girl, is empty.

"Michael!" I hear a voice above me ring out and echo slightly through the forest.

I already know that it’s him. I’d recognize that British accent anywhere, especially when it’s horribly mispronouncing my name.

My eyes are as wide as saucers as I look up to see Gavin, a huge grin plastered across his face, and an excited gleam in his eyes. He’s sitting in the tree branches, crouched like he’s ready to pounce on something.

"Gavin!?"

He jumps out of the tree easily, landing on his feet next to me. His face is so close to mine and it happens so suddenly that I back up out of confusion, shock, and astonishment. It ends with me falling to the ground on my ass.

Is it so much to ask for one lucky break? To go  _one_  outting without having a near death experience, getting injured, or having my life put in danger? Maybe Geoff is right to force me to take it easy for a while.

My back is aching from the impact, but I don’t pay any attention to it. Any thoughts of my injuries or bad luck is thrown out the window once I fully access the situation.

I’m in total astonishment for those few moments.

Gavin is  _here_.

He’s real and alive.

He isn’t dead or a figment of my imagination.

"G-Gavin!" I yell, and I can’t imagine what the look on my face must be like.

"Yes!" he hollers back, thinking that we’re playing a game of sorts.

I’d spent the last two weeks imagining every possible scenario that revolved around him. What happened to him after I lost consciousnesses? Did he get to safety? Does he have any kind of home out here? Where has he been this entire time? Did he get hurt?

But all of those questions don’t matter now because he’s  _here._

And I’m not crazy! He’s a living breathing person that is standing in front of me. There’s no way my brain could have fabricated this.

In my shocked state, I frantically look over every aspect of him within those few seconds. He doesn’t look very healthy. I didn’t realize how skinny and pale he looked under the light of the torch that night.

But now that it’s day light, I can see his cheeks are slightly hallow, and he has bags under his eyes. He’s decorated with a few more bruises and cuts than before. He’s still wearing that goofy grin though, as though he doesn’t even realize how unhealthy he looks.

I feel guilty because I was right. While I was getting treated back to health, he was probably suffering out here on his own. I can’t let myself fall into this right now though.

He’s alive and real.

The guys’ are going to flip shit.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on, Gavin." I say as I continue to drag him through the woods by his arm. He continues getting distracted by little things in the forest and wanting to stop to view them, but I’m too impatient for his child-like behavior right now.

"Michael?" he finally questions, stumbling to keep up with my fast pace.

"What?" I stop to look back at him.

He just gives me a curious and concerned look, and I wish he could tell me what’s wrong.

"Am I going too fast?" I question, and he just quirks an eyebrow. "Sorry, I’m just kind of excited. I didn’t think you were alive, ya’know? All of my friends had me convinced that you weren’t real."

Even though I know he doesn’t understand, I continue on talking. It’s nice to be able to just speak freely without any chance of ridicule. He just watches me talk, and if I didn’t know any better I would think he was actually following my ramblings.

Luckily I was picking apples very close to town, so it only takes a few moments to walk back. Gavin’s eyes shine as the buildings come into view.

I have my suspicions that he’s been here before.

"This is Achievement City." I say to him as we step onto the logo.

He repeats the name slowly, as if trying to memorize it like he’s done with the other few English words he knows.

Our town isn’t really all that great. Just the few houses, and one that we have for storage in the corner. The most impressive thing is the logo, but sometimes Geoff will make stupid things as a prank against one of us. Hence why there’s a huge statue of Jack made out of wool that looms over his house.

But other than the obvious landmarks like that, it just looks like a normal little town. Geoff built all of our houses individually before we even lived here. He’d even gone out of his way for dumb jokes like giving Ray the smallest and crappiest one, and himself the best. When we first all moved in we laughed so much that our stomach’s hurt.

"Look," I point, "That’s my house."

I really like my simple little home. It’s just a normal house, nothing fancy or over the top. The best thing about it is the fact that there haven’t been any pranks or landmarks surrounding it.

Once Geoff and Ryan covered a whole wall of Ray’s house with cake dispensers while he was out of town. Thankfully I don’t have any kind of traits like ‘hates cake’ so I’m not as easy to prank.

Gavin follows my finger and sets his eyes on my house. He must understand because he grins and runs over to it, leaving me standing by myself on the logo.

"Gavin!" I yell, but he doesn’t pay any attention and walks through the door. Not even sparing me a look back.

He really is a handful. We may even have to child-proof Achievement City because of him. I run after him. Who knows what kind of shit he’ll mess up in there, and I don’t want him breaking anything.

It’s so quiet right now. Usually it’s bustling with my friends being jerks to one another and making crude jokes at the expense of others. But since we’re the only two here, it’s like a ghost town.

When I step through the doors I see Gavin standing at my bookcase, pulling out a book and flipping through the pages, wonder and amazement on his face. Once he finishes, he lets it drop to the ground and goes to pick up another one.

I wonder how much knowledge he has of common human things. Has he really never seen a book? It was surprising enough that he’s never seen a weapon before, but a  _book_?

"Stop that!" I yell with annoyance, and pull the book out of his hands before he can drop it. I don’t need him completely trashing my house for no reason.

He arches an eyebrow at my anger and it’s apparent that he doesn’t know why he’s being scolded. “Book.” I state, holding it in front of him. When he goes to reach for it I pull it away further, then put it back on the shelf.

He doesn’t repeat the word this time, but seems to understand. Instead of going on to mess with more things, he just lets his eyes run over the numerous objects in the house.

As he does this I pick up the other book he’s dropped on the floor. Who knew one weird kid dressed as a creeper could be so much work? I look back to see that he’s pointing at my diamond sword that’s stood up against the wall.

"That’s my sword," I remind him.

I’m sure that he still remembers it, mainly because it played a huge part in our first meeting.

His expression turns to one of concern and pain, and he lifts his hand in front of my face. The yellow material that’s still tied around is almost completely stained with dried blood and dirt.

The cut is probably infected by now, and judging by the pitiful look on his face it’s painful. I’ll have to get Ryan to take a look at it.

I’m not sure how long it will take Gavin to heal completely. He doesn’t look like he’s in pain, but it’s still no where near good condition. Fixing up his numerous cuts and bruises won’t be a problem, but getting him back to a healthy weight isn’t going to be easy.

Potions can help heal wounds, pains, and aches within days, sometimes minutes. But they can’t do anything for hunger.

I’m about to say something to Gavin when I hear the loud chatter and laughter of my friends entering the town. The best part about having a town filled with only your friends is that you’re able to say what you want and as loud as you want.

"Stay here." I state slowly to Gavin, holding him by the shoulders as though that will keep him in place after I leave.

He doesn’t respond and just watches me leave through my front door. I catch Geoff’s attention as soon as I’m in their line of sight.

"I thought I told you to pick apples, dipshit." he states as they walk closer to me.

"Yeah, and that job was pointless as fuck." I grin. Geoff laughs because he knows it’s true.

"We could have been planning to bake you a get well pie with those apples" Jack argues playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, shut the hell up."

I hear my door opening behind me and my friend’s smiles slip off of their faces. As I roll my eyes I question myself on why I thought Gavin would listen to me.

I planned on telling them first, and then showing them Gavin, just to lighten the blow a little. But I have to admit that seeing their shocked and confused expressions is very satisfying.

"Everybody meet Gavin," I say with a smug grin on my face.

"Gavin!" he repeats with a cheery content tone.

It’s silent for a few moments and I worry that they’ve broken. The air is tense and all I can do is grin.

"You’re creeper boyfriend guy actually  _exists_!?” Ryan exclaims.

"Yes. So as you can all see," I glare at them with a smirk, "I am not crazy."

"Holy shit, he’s actually real." Jack mutters.

Everybody seems to be in this weird shocked trance, and half of them have their jaws dropped. I can’t help but bask in the feeling of me being right, and them being wrong.

Gavin looks at the guys’ with a curious expression. I’ve had my assumptions that he’s gone a long time without any kind of human interaction.

I don’t blame them for being completely bewildered at this. I’m still not really confident that it’s actually happening either.

How likely is it that I would somehow find a complete stranger out in the middle of the woods that was a complete idiot, couldn’t speak normally, and wore clothes that made him look like a creeper. Even coming up with the idea would be odd on it’s own.

"Gavin." I say and he turns toward me at the sound of his name. I begin pointing to each person individually, "Geoff, Ray, Jack, Ryan."

He nods for a moment in concentration, letting his brain process the new names and matching them to the faces of these people he’s never met. I can see that one gear he has working in his head. Until he finally smiles at them.

"Gavin!" he says, and points to himself.

Ryan buries his face in his hands, “I’m so confused.”

I see the grin spreading across Ray’s face while everyone else’s remain in that bewildered state. It’s not very hard to convince Ray to approve of something. Unless it’s cake.

Ray is very easily persuaded by new things or things he already likes. Once during a Lets Play somebody threw a rose into the water and he dove in after it without a second thought.

It’s also not very often that he’s shocked. Ray has two modes, chill and sarcastic. It wouldn’t take a genius to assume that he’d be the first one to snap out of it and approve.

"Hey, dude." he walks forward and puts a hand out for Gavin to shake, "I’m Ray."

Gavin just stares at his hand for a few moments before finally just reaching his own hands upward and grabbing Ray’s face. Everybody just watches as Gavin continues to play around with Ray’s cheeks, pulling the skin and mushing it together with a concentrated look on his face.

Now I’m positive that Gavin hasn’t seen other people before.

Ray raises an eyebrow but doesn’t stop the behavior or pull away, instead he looks at me and says, “I think your boyfriend is hitting on me.”

I glare at him but he doesn’t seem to notice. “He isn’t my boyfriend,” I growl.

"Well, I like him," Ray says although the constant movement of his face makes it sound like he has a lisp "Welcome to Achievement City, Gavin."

Gavin releases Ray’s face at the sound of his name and grins wide at him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Geoff interjects, stepping in between the two to break them up, "Who said anything about him  _staying_?”

"Dude, I did. Like three seconds ago." Ray states almost sarcastically. He shuts up when Geoff shoots him a glare.

I hadn’t realized how silent Geoff’s been throughout this. I didn’t consider the fact that they might not want him to stay. It just seemed so obvious to take in somebody that needs our help.

He’s normally so care free and laid back about rules or requests, but just judging by the look on his face we know that it’s serious this time. Geoff can be really scary when he wants to be.

Jack and Ryan don’t share their opinions on the matter, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Everything is quiet as Geoff and I glare at each other. I don’t understand what’s going on and why he’s acting so cranky, but I’m not about to let it affect Gavin’s well being.

He finally relents and looks away to see everybody else just staring at us, even Gavin is watching curiously. He lets out an annoyed breath and finally says, “Michael? Can I speak with you alone for a moment?”

No isn’t an option.

*

As soon as he closes the door to his house it begins.

"What are you thinking, Michael!?" he yells. The sound echoes throughout his huge house and I cringe at the noise.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I try to yell back, but it ends up sounding weaker and not as loud as his.

Maybe I’m a little scared of Geoff when he’s like this. It’s not very often that I’m on the receiving side of his actual anger. Fuck, it’s not very often that  _anybody_ is on the receiving side of his anger.

"We don’t know who this guy is, and you’re here showing him around Achievement City like you’ve known him for years!?"

He doesn’t trust Gavin? That’s the problem? Does he not realize how harmless and innocent he looks? I doubt he’d even try to hurt a fly, and Geoff thinks that he’s somehow bad?

"You don’t trust him?"

"We don’t know anything about him!" he continues to yell, not easing up on the volume in the slightest, "He could secretly be planning to steal from us or murder us all in our sleep!"

"Seriously?" my face drops, "You think  _he_ could be some kind of criminal master mind? He’s a total idiot! He doesn’t even speak English!”

"I just don’t fucking trust it. I don’t want to be constantly inviting new people to come live here with us. We’re doing well on our own and we don’t need any trouble."

"But-"

"Michael, listen to me." he stops yelling and looks me straight in the eyes, "We’ve had one too many close calls with you lately, and I don’t want it to happen again."

My eyes narrow and I glare at me, “So that’s what this is about? Me getting injured by those creepers or whatever? That has nothing to do with this!”

"It has everything to do with this! If we let some stranger join us and it turns out to be a bad idea then we may not have the opportunity to fix it. I don’t want one of you guy’s getting hurt or even killed because of one stupid mistake!"

We’re both screaming at each other by this point, and I’m starting to lose my breath. The room is quiet and there’s no shouting or anger bouncing off the empty walls anymore.

I’m just angry because he’s right. We don’t know anything about Gavin. He’s still a stranger, and it’s a bad idea to invite strangers in without a second thought. I know deep down in my gut that Gavin isn’t dangerous, but even I’m not willing to risk it when I think through it.

I breath out an annoyed sigh. “You’re right.” I mutter, while breaking our glare to look down at my feet.

I can see his body visibly relax out of my peripheral vision and I can practically sense the guilt he’s feeling from yelling at me so harshly.

I hate being wrong about things, but I hate people pitying me even more. Gavin should be the person we’re worrying about, not me. He’s the one that looks like he’s about one hungry day away from death itself.

"Michael…" he starts off, but I cut him off.

"But we can’t just throw him back out there, Geoff! He’ll die! Didn’t you see all the cuts and bruises? He looks like he hasn’t eaten in days! He wouldn’t survive on his own out there much longer!" I point out, suddenly shouting again. But this time my tone is pleading and desperate.

I don’t want to send Gavin away and never see him again. I want to keep him safe just as much as I do the other guys’. Who knows what will happen if we ditch him now. If his skinny frame is anything to go by, starvation and death doesn’t seem too unlikely. Just the thought sends a shiver down my spine.

I hate that I care so much for one person that I don’t even know. Something about Gavin just radiates the need for help or guidance. Throwing him out like he’s nothing to me would just be cruel and I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it.

Geoff doesn’t respond for a while, thinking over Gavin’s unhealthy appearance. I can see the hesitance swimming in his eyes, and he’s reluctant to answer me.

"What if one of  _us_  got lost out in the woods, couldn’t find our way back home, and a neighboring city let us die because they didn’t trust us. Wouldn’t you be mad? Don’t make us out to be the bad guy’s just because Gavin’s a stranger.” I point out, not letting up in my quest to let Gavin stay.

I know Geoff cares a lot about people. He may try to deny it until he’s blue in the face, but he’d die before letting anybody hurt me or the other guys’. That uncaring facade he puts up may trick the rest of them, but it doesn’t work on me.

Even though Gavin’s a stranger, he’s not going to be able to look me in the eyes and tell me that he’s okay with letting another person die.

"Fuck." he mutters under his breath and rolls his eyes, "Fine. But  _only_ until he’s back on his feet. We’re not keeping this kid around forever. Once he’s healthy then he’s out of here.” he gives me a final stern glare, just to let me know that he’s serious.

That’s still not the result I’m looking for. I don’t want to help Gavin and then pull the rug out from under him later. I want him to constantly feel safe and happy. I don’t want to see him sick or injured just because we don’t trust people easily.

"Griffon would let him stay." I mutter under my breath, knowing that I’m treading on thin ice with that comment.

"We are  _not_ dragging Griffon into this.” he has that ‘end of discussion’ tone to his voice, but I continue to push my luck.

"You’re just mad because she’d agree with me." Although this probably isn’t the best way to convince Geoff to let Gavin stay, I’m completely right.

"No, she wouldn’t."

I take that as my window of opportunity. Once he sees my grin he scowls, and I can practically see him mentally preparing himself for what’s about to come. Geoff knows me so well.

"Let’s go ask her then."

That simple sentences causes him to groan in frustration and I know that I’ve won.

Griffon is Geoff’s girlfriend. She’s  _really_  smart and I can’t ever recall a time when she’s fallen for somebody’s lies or tricks. Asking for her advice now would be very beneficial in finding out if Gavin is as innocent and child-like as he looks.

I can see the gears working in Geoff’s head, trying to find a way around this, but he knows that it won’t work well in his favor. As soon as he lets out a defeated sigh I want to jump for joy.

"Fine." he mumbles, "We’ll take him to see Griffon."

"Yes." I cheer under my breath. I can’t imagine Griffon not taking my side.

"I hate you guys’ sometimes." he mutters.

I don’t pay any attention to it and just chuckle happily as he rolls his eyes. Even Gavin staying for a few weeks is better than not at all. He may be an annoying stupid pest, but at least he’s not a  _dead_ one. As long as we’re able to help him in  _some_ way I might be able to get rid of these protective urges that are clawing at my chest.

Maybe I’ve only been feeling this way because I can’t stand to watch other people in pain. Gavin doesn’t act like he’s hurt or in pain, but it’s obvious that he might have died if he hadn’t found me again.

"Don’t celebrate too quickly. He’s sleeping in your house tonight." Geoff states with a smirk.

"Damn it."


	6. Chapter 6

"Just stay still!"

"No!"

Geoff and I look at each other once we hear the shouting coming from my house.

When we open the door we see Gavin sitting on the bed and having the wound on his hand examined by Ryan, while the other two watch the exchange. But judging by the way he’s pulling his hand away and resisting Ryan’s care, it isn’t going very well.

"Michael!" I hear Gavin cry out once he notices me.

Everybody else turns to look at Geoff and I with relieved or confused faces.

"What’s going on?" I question.

"He won’t stay still or let me check out the wound." Ryan huffs, and goes to reach for his hand again. He’s rejected when Gavin pulls it away from his reach and lets out a confused shriek.

I hear Ray murmur, “It’s been very entertaining” but I don’t have time to laugh, at the trouble Gavin’s causing, along with him.

"Let him look at your damn hand." I say, and walk over to Gavin. When I take his hand in mine he doesn’t resist or pull away in fear. I realize that he trusts me, and I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.

"Aww," Jack mocks, "They’re holding hands."

"Fuck off, Jack." I state, and turn back to convincing Gavin, "Ryan’s nice like me and you."

"Nice?"

"Yeah. Gavin, nice. Michael, nice." I say gesturing to each of us, then I point at Ryan, "Ryan, nice."

"Ryan nice?" he repeats, not really understanding the concept. The word nice is starting to sound weird.

"Yeah," I say and think of a way to say it that he’ll understand even though that’s practically impossible, "He’s good." I throw in a thumbs up as though that will convey the message at all.

Everybody watches Gavin think it over, looking between me and Ryan slowly.

When he and I first met in the woods that night, Gavin had no problem trusting me at all. He’d talked, laughed, and smiled as though we’d known each other for years. Even after my sword injured him he didn’t shy away or act scared of me.

After a few silent moments, he relents and holds out his injured hand for Ryan. He takes it slowly and gently, not wanting to scare Gavin again or make him seem untrustworthy.

We’re lucky that Ryan is good with this kind of thing. He can easily go from _mad king that locks cows in his basement_  to  _caring and gentle healer_ within the blink of an eye.

As he unwraps the bandage the conversation begins.

"So does he really not know English?" Jack asks.

"I don’t think so." I respond, "I’m not even sure if he’s  _heard_  English before.”

"Think he’s got a family? Any friends out there?"

"Judging by the way he’s reacting, I’d say he’s never even seen other people." Ryan says.

I look at Gavin’s wound, it’s bloody and infected. I’m sure that it hurts but it doesn’t seem to faze him at all. Ryan grabs a potion and drops a small splash into the cut.

I didn’t even realize that Gavin’s been holding my shoulder until I feel him squeeze it in concern. Once he realizes that the potion doesn’t hurt him, he eases his grip up a little but doesn’t let go. I don’t blame him for being cautious around a group of strangers.

"So is he going to stay here with us or not?" Ray finally asks.

"He’s going to stay until he’s healthy. But we’re going to ask Griffon about it." Geoff informs, sitting on the chair next to Jack.

Ray smirks, “Welcome to family, Gavin.”

"Griffon might not approve." he argues.

Ryan and Jack try to hide their chuckles, because even they know that it’s a lost cause now.

I’m sure that in the back of his mind even Geoff knows that it’s true. But it’s not like he can avoid it. If Griffon found out that he tried to hide something from her and was avoiding her input on a discussion like this, it might not end very well for him.

"Where’s he gonna sleep until that time comes?"

"He’s sleeping here with Michael tonight and then-" Geoff is immediately cut off by an uncharacteristic yell from Ray.

"What!?" he stares at me with wide eyes, "You guys are having a lad’s sleepover  _without me_!?”

"Gavin is _not_ a lad.” Geoff states but nobody pays attention to it.

I scoff and cross my arms, “It’s not sleepover. He’s just sleeping in my house until we can find him a more permanent home.”

"He’s not staying here forever." Geoff’s words continue to go unnoticed.

"Hey, what if he stayed in the storage house?" Jack suggests, "There’s plenty of room in there. We don’t even use it anymore."

The storage house is really close to mine. I’m still in this weird protective mode over Gavin, so having his house close to mine would be really beneficial. Having his own space might help him adjust a little easier and I really can’t see any downsides to it.

"That’s a good idea," I murmur, thinking it over, "Maybe tomorrow we’ll go check it out and try to clean out all the cobwebs and shit."

Geoff groans in annoyance.

All of our attention is pointed to Gavin when he starts making panicked and confused noises, almost like a scream but not quite.

It’s like a mixture between a screech and that squeaky noise he makes when he laughs. But I know this time it’s not because he’s happy. His face is scrunched up and he’s trying to pull his hand away from Ryan.

"What’s wrong!?" Ray questions over the wailing noises Gavin’s making.

Ryan doesn’t speak, and just turns back to the potion table to mix something quickly. Once his hand is released, Gavin holds it to his chest, scowling in agony.

"Pain?" I ask him, trying to take his hand.

He refuses to let me have it, but his confused at my word distracts him for a few moments. “Pain?” he repeats the word, but it’s obvious he doesn’t understand it’s meaning.

"Yeah." I inform, nodding, and pointing at his hand, "Pain."

Gavin seems to be a fast learner when it comes to languages. He hasn’t once mixed up any of the words I’ve taught him, or used them incorrectly. Hopefully teaching him more words and phrases won’t be too difficult. I assume we’ll need to hear more from him than just yes’s and no’s.

He winces when Ryan takes his hand again but doesn’t fight it, the potion drips into his wound while we continue to stare at each other. The tortured and scared look on his face finally begins to relax as the pain weakens, and the potion begins to soothe his hand.

It’s quiet for a few minutes, and we’re all waiting to see if the potion worked. Ryan’s ready to jump back into action if he starts squealing again.

"…No pain." Gavin murmurs

"Good." Ryan nods and puts the potion in my empty hands, "If it starts hurting again throughout the night use it some more, but other than that we can’t bandage it until it’s had some air to heal. But it’ll be better by tomorrow anyways."

"It’s getting late," Geoff says, "We should all head off to bed."

It’s been a pretty eventful day, and I hate to admit that I’m actually tired. The day started off so easy, just picking apples. Then it turned into finding Gavin, bringing him to Achievement City, introducing him to the guys’, and arguing with Geoff. Hopefully tomorrow will be quieter.

Everybody murmurs in agreement as they all get up from their spots, they all say their good nights to us.

When the door closes Gavin gives me an smile, his eyes wide with content and innocence.

I can hear the guys’ chatter get more and more distant as they walk to their individual houses. “How long do you think it’ll be until they start banging?”

"I heard that, Ray!" I yell, but the only response I’m given is his loud laughter. I roll my eyes but don’t dwell on it for now.

"So, Gavin, you’re lucky that I have an extra bed or else you’d be sleeping on the floor tonight." I turn around to look at him but I see that he’s gone. My eyes widen in confusion and disbelief, he was literally sitting there three seconds ago.

"Gavin!?" I call out. I’ve seriously took my eyes off of him for mere milliseconds, and he is no where to be seen.

My house isn’t that big. It’s one goddamn room. When I looked away from him I was looking at the door, so he couldn’t have left through there. The glass on my windows aren’t broken either, so he  _must_ be in here somewhere.

"Gavin!" I yell again, it echoes through my house and I want to bury my face in my hands when I get no response.

I thought the day was over. I thought that I wouldn’t have to deal with anymore of this crazy bullshit today. Gavin is such a handful.

I walk over and look under the bed. It feels like I’m playing hide and seek with a little kid. It’s empty under there, no creeper boys in sight.

I’m about to call out his name again when I hear a muffled giggle. As though somebody is trying to stifle their laughter by covering their mouth. The sound washes away my annoyance and I snicker to myself.

Maybe I actually am playing hide and seek.

I don’t know how Gavin’s done it, but in the very short amount of time that I’ve known him, he’s completely changed how I react to things. If any of the other guys were doing this to me right now, I’d still be annoyed and angry. But Gavin doing it to purposely piss me off just makes me want to laugh.

"Where are you?" I drag out the words in a sing song voice, and his giggling gets louder.

Where the fuck is he?

"Michael!" his voice echoes, and I try to pinpoint where it’s coming from. It’s only when I look up that I see him sitting on one of the rafters holding my roof in place.

Although my house isn’t all that big, it still needs support and weight to keep it up. If it wasn’t for the four long pieces of wood going along the top, this entire place might collapse on top of me one day.

"How the hell did you get up there?" I question, and he just continues to laugh at me. "Get down!"

I jump up to grab his leg but I’m too short. He stills pulls his legs up and laughs more at my expense. I sigh and shake my head with annoyance, even though I’m slightly amused at the situation.

"Fine. Stay up there." I mutter, and begin setting up the extra bed on the opposite side of the room.

The only reason everybody has extra beds in their houses is if we’re going travelling or need to sleep at a Let’s Play. Sometimes we’ll randomly go camp out in the middle of the woods for no reason.

As soon as the bed is set up, Gavin leaps down from the rafters and lands on it, squealing splendidly as he does so. He just sits there, clapping his hands together at his own trick.

"You may be more trouble than you’re worth."

It’s no surprise to me by now that he’s really good at jumping and climbing. It’s probably a good trait to have if you live out in the woods on your own. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time he’s crawling around on my rafters. He practically weighs nothing anyways, so it’s not like he could break the wood.

I’m actually really concerned about Gavin’s weight. I’ve never seen anybody so skinny and starving before, and I hope it won’t be too difficult to help him.

"Go to sleep." I say to him, but he just smiles at me.

He’ll get the point when I go to my own bed and turn off all the lights. Hopefully. He might stay up the entire time just climbing around the room and uncontrollably bouncing around.

I lift my shirt over my head, ready to change into something more fitting for sleep.

I’m used to seeing the huge scar on my chest by now, it doesn’t hurt anymore, and I can’t even feel it. Before now it annoyed me, because it reminded me of Gavin and how he ‘didn’t exist’.

So much has happened today.

I finally found Gavin. And he’s a real person that I didn’t make up. He’s here in front of me, staying in my house, and soon to become a member of Achievement City himself. It’s crazy, and I still can’t wrap my head around it.

I’m broken out of my thoughts when I see Gavin staring at me with wide eyes and his jaw dropped.

"What?" I question, about to put on my new shirt.

He stands up and walks over to me, still with that thoughtful expression on his face. I see what he’s looking at now, the scar on my chest. He stares at the skin for a few moments, not speaking a word.

The scene confuses me. He looks so concerned and worried, as though he hadn’t expected my chest to look so bad after that creeper explosion. What was he thinking? That I’d get out of that scratch free?

I shiver when I feel his fingers lightly brushing against the skin. The warm trail it leaves behind as he continues, and it fills me up with that heat he radiates with.

"Pain?" he questions softly, finally looking up into my eyes.

"Yeah…" I murmur, too lost to process what he’s saying, "I mean no! No pain. Not anymore."

He nods, but still looks hesitant to believe me.

Then I realize that maybe Gavin cares about me just as much as I do about him. Maybe I’m not the only one that feels this protective urge, and he’s just as desperate to keep me safe as I am him.

All this time I thought I was just going crazy for caring about an absolute stranger so much. But when I look into his eyes I see the fear, distress, and worry that I’ve been feeling for the past week. We’re a lot alike.

I move his hands away from my chest and pull him in, wrapping my arms around him and holding tightly. The warmth his fingers caused on my chest, spreads through every limb of my body and it makes me want to hold him forever.

I eventually let go and laugh out loud at the confused look on his face. Of course he wouldn’t understand.

"That was a hug." I state, still grinning at his puzzled expression.

"Hug?"

"Yeah."

He thinks it over, tossing the word around his brain a few times and connecting it to the activity. After a few moments he holds out his arms and scoops me into them, smiling as he presses his cheek against my shoulder.

"Hug!" he cries happily.

I think he understands.


	7. Chapter 7

Of course the loud shouting in my room is what wakes me up.

"Michael! Michael! Michael!" a British voice screams from the top of their lungs with joy.

"Oh my gosh," I groan out painfully, and cover my face with my pillow to block out the noise. It doesn’t succeed in doing much other than showing Gavin that I’m awake.

"Michael!" he cries out again.

I really need to teach him words that don’t involve my name, because I’m seriously starting to hate the sound of it.

"Gavin! Shut the fuck up!" I moan in annoyance.

I move the pillow from my face and peek an eye open to see that he’s up on the rafters again, leaping back and forth between the strips of wood that hold up roof up. Maybe I really should go through with the idea of child-proofing everything.

"When the hell did you wake up?" I ask rhetorically, sitting up in my bed and attempt to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

I’ve never really been a morning person, and being awoken by a loud mouthed creeper idiot doesn’t really help that fact in anyway.

"Sword." he points to the weapon that’s still in the corner of my house.

I raise an eyebrow, but don’t respond.

He points toward the bookcase, “Book.”

He leaps down from the rafters and lands onto his feet as I lazily throw some causal clothes on. Today’s a Let’s Play day, so I know I won’t need much protection.

"Achievement City!" he states proudly, while pointing out the window and towards the small community outside of it.

I roll my eyes, “Yes. Very good, Gavin. Now come on, let’s go get some food in you.”

I playfully smack him in the face, and he gives me a pitiful look of displeasure at my actions, “Pain!” he cries out, pointing at his own face.

"Correct again." I smirk, "You’re on a roll, buddy."

_

 

"I heard screaming coming from your house, were you two banging?" Ray asks, stuffing a handful of bacon into his mouth.

"No. He just doesn’t understand the concept of sleeping in, and was very adament in waking me up." I explain with a roll of my eyes.

Gavin trails behind me as we walk towards everybody else, who are all eating their breakfast and all seem ready to go to the Let’s Play.

"Think he’ll be okay sleeping in his own seperate house tonight?" Ryan questions as he hands me a plate full.

"Thanks." I murmur, "And, nah. He’ll be fine."

I don’t take the plate for myself, and hand it over to Gavin. His eyes widen in amazement and shock at the food and smell of it. I wonder how long it’s been since he’s had an actual filling meal.

"No! No! No!" Ryan yells out and jumps up from his seat, "He can’t have that. Take it back!"

I don’t even hesitate to take the plate out of Gavin’s hands. His face drops with disappointment and he reaches for it, but I pull it out of his grasp. It makes me feel slightly guilty because it’s obvious how bad he wants it. I think I can actually hear his stomach growl.

"Why not? He obviously wants it."

"He just spent who knows how long starving out in the woods. We can’t just let him eat until he’s full. He has to pace himself, or he might get sick. He might actually get sick just from eating a small amount." he explains.

I guess that makes sense, but the look in Gavin’s eyes makes me want to just give him this along with three other platefuls.

"Not even a little slice of cake?" I question innocently.

"No." Ray interrupts.

"Seriously? You’re going to stop everybody from eating cake just because  _you_ hate it?”

"I don’t want Gavin subjected to that kind of propaganda." he argues.

I smirk and sit down next to Jack. Gavin follows suit by sitting down next to me. He watches me eat my food with greedy and hunger filled eyes. That protective feeling kicks in again and I’m about to slip him a strip of bacon, but Ryan sees and scolds me.

"His will be ready in a second, Michael. Geez, you’re almost as impatient as him."

Gavin continues to sit there, pouting with jealousy. I wish I could find some way to communicate to him that his food is coming soon. We really do need to work on teaching him more words and phrases.

When Ryan does give him his own plate, there is only a small amount compared to what’s on everybody elses’. But Gavin doesn’t even blink, before scarfing it down as fast as he can. I was about to hand him a fork but he just completely dug into it before I could even speak a word.

"That kid’s insane." Jack mutters under his breath while we all snicker.

_

 

"What we playing today, Geoffrey?" I ask while we arrive at the Let’s Play, which consists of a small arena type area that is fenced in by cobblestone. There are four pigs trapped inside that are innocently walking around and minding their own business.

"It’s called Swine Step."

"Creative name." Ray comments sarcastically.

"Yeah, I was a few beers in." he shrugs with a smirk, "Basically you just ride on your pig, try to push other people off theirs, and then the last one on is the winner. Due to some… obstructions… this week, I haven’t had any time to plan out an actual Let’s Play. So you fuckers are going to play this and your going to like it."

He pauses partway through to glare at Gavin when he says the word ‘obstructions’, who just smiles innocently back.

"Why are there only four pigs?" Ray asks.

"Because there are only  _four_  players.” Geoff states seriously, not even looking Gavin’s way. Ryan and I turn to each other and try to hide our snickers.

Geoff not trusting Gavin isn’t a positive thing, but it’s still pretty funny.

Sometimes Geoff will join in and do a Let’s Play with us, but usually he prefers to ‘host’ them. It usually makes me more fun and easier for us because then he doesn’t have un unfair advantage.

"Let’s Play!" Ray yells out as we all sit on our individual pigs. We all let out exaggerated and mock cry noises as our pigs get scared of the weight on their backs, and of the hollering. Pigs are difficult to ride on regardless of their attitude.

But the sound of our playful shouts and banter isn’t as loud as Gavin’s gasp and squeal of joy. He reaches forward, about to jump onto the track to join the fun, but Geoff grabs him by the back of the shirt to stop him.

"Oh, no you don’t!" Geoff states, "You’re staying here with me and watching."

He lets out a disappointed moan, Geoff’s actions being enough to tell him that he isn’t allowed to accompany us during the game.

"Poor creeper boy." Jack comments lightly.

It’s not very often that Geoff gets annoyed or angry, and usually it causes all of us to go quiet or feel guilty. But this time it’s just plain hilarious. Gavin is so persistent in wanting to do something that he’s bouncing around and poking Geoff with a silly expression on his face. You can practically see his anger levels rising.

"Fine. Here, you want to do something?" I hear Geoff say to Gavin with an annoyed tone in his voice.

I hold back the urge to laugh, and just try to continue the game, but seeing Geoff so annoyed is hilarious. Gavin is so happily oblivious to his anger and is so eager to help and watch the game, but he’s so excitable and bouncy that it’s practically impossible.

"Here, hold this stuff for me." Geoff gives Gavin a bunch of things from his inventory. I assume it’s only to keep him occupied and weighed down. I’d feel almost bad for Geoff if it wasn’t so amusing.

"Michael!" Gavin calls out once Geoff hands him all of the items, "Gubbins!"

Ray stops playing to burst out into laughter as Geoff rolls his eyes.

"Is he just making up words now?" Ryan asks with a chuckle.

Both Ray and I are laughing too hard to answer. Gavin looks so happily unaware of Geoff’s annoyance, and it’s so goddamn amusing. He looks like he’s about to punch Gavin in the face. This is the best Lets Play ever, and we aren’t even focusing on the game.

"Okay, okay, assholes!" Geoff yells once he sees us watching, "Get back to the game."

"Yes, sir!" I call out playfully.

The game continues on for a few moments. We all talk, joke around, and laugh as we try to stay on our pigs while stiumanously trying to push each other off of theirs.

So far only Ryan has fallen off, but he won last week. There’s going to be a new victor soon, and I think it’s going to be Ray. Neither Jack or I seem to have very good control of our pigs.

"Gavin! What the hell!" Geoff yells angrily while Ryan guffaws.

We all turn to see what the commotion is, and it’s Gavin. Of course it is. But he’s made some weird tower he’s built from the ‘gubbins’ Geoff has given him. It’s about five blocks high, and consists of one bottom obsidean block, then four solid gold blocks.

He sits on top of it proudly, looking down at Geoff and grinning wildly.

Geoff looks so pissed off at the random and pointless statue type thing and at Gavin’s presence in general.

"What the hell! I can’t look away from you for ten seconds without you doing something stupid?" Geoff complains.

The four of us howl with laughter at the sight, my sides hurt and there are tears coming out of my eyes.

"Stop laughing, you assholes." he mutters.

"He made a tower of  _pure gold_!” Ray continues, trying to quiet down his laughter into a chuckle for Geoff’s sake, “What a pimp.”

"He made a tower of pimps."

Even Geoff cracks a smile at that. It soon becomes too much, and we aren’t even paying attention to the game anymore. Jack and I both slip off of our pigs and too the ground due to our lack of attention, but we can’t bring ourselves to care.

"I win!" Ray cheers, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Gavin, get down from there!" I call out after him as we all make our way to the side of the arena.

Even though it’s insanely amusing, I’m still slightly worried that he’ll fall down and hurt himself. He’s so thin that a light breeze could probably sweep him right off the top. I know that he’s an excellent climber and jumper, but it still makes me uneasy.

"Tower of Pimps!" Gavin yells down to me, still beaming.

"We’re never going to get him down, huh?" Jack asks, still snickering.

"This little asshole is more trouble than he’s worth." Geoff mutters, trying to hold back his smiles. Funny, I thought that exact same thing yesterday but I said it with the same tone. Maybe Geoff is easing up on Gavin a little. Hopefully.

"So do I win this?" Ray asks, leaning against the tower, "Can this be my prize?"

"Why the fuck not." Geoff mutters, clearly seeing that he won’t win this arguement.

We all throw our arms up in celebration and cheer, mainly just to annoy Geoff. Gavin copies our excitement, happy to be a part of the fun.

_

 

After the Let’s Play, Gavin and I head over to the storage house. It’s still only the afternoon, but who knows how long it will take to clean all the crap in that house, move Gavin into it, and teach him that he lives there now.

The house isn’t dirty or covered in dust, but I still want to cough when we enter it. I haven’t been in here in a long time, and it’s mainly used for when somebody has something they don’t currently need.

The stone walls are empty and makes the room feel colder than it actually is. Maybe we’ll get some pictures to hang up on the walls, just so it doesn’t seem so lonely in here.

Gavin’s eyes are wide and he starts looking around at the junk spread out randomly across the floor.

I hope he’ll be safe in here sleeping on his own. He’s not the brightest when it comes to avoiding danger or harm. There aren’t any rafters though, so hopefully he won’t climb much in here.

"This is your house now." I tell him.

He doesn’t pay any attention to me, and just continues to glance around and pick at the various things we have thrown around the room.

"Gavin?"

"Michael." he stares at me with wide eyes, no longer excitedly exploring.

Whenever I say his name his attention completely switches, and he focuses only on me. I briefly wonder if I look at him like that when he says my name.

"Yeah, uh. This…" I open my arms out wide to signify the entire house, then I point at him, "is yours now."

He raises an eyebrow but judging by the concentrated look on his face, he’s at least attempting to decifer what I mean. I resist the urge to tear my hair out with frustration.

Sometimes the whole language thing is really annoying. I wish he just spoke our language so that talking wouldn’t be such a hassle. I look around the room, trying to think of a simplier way to explain this.

I spot the few scattered buckets of wool dye in the corner of the room and I get an idea. Since this is used as our storage house, we have a lot of random things in here until we can find use for them. Right now it’s kind of empty, other than a few scattered tools and buckets.

We keep around dye just in case Geoff needs it to decorate one of the Let’s Play sets. He tends to go all out on those things.

"Watch." I state, walking over to the buckets and picking one up. I hold up the metal tin filled with dye, not paying attention to the color.

He cocks his head to the side, watching in confusion at my actions, but I just continue on.

When the lid is pried open, I see the red liquid dye slosh around slightly at the disruption. I dip my finger in and lift it up so he can see it dripping slightly off of my fingers.

"This is dye." I say slowly.

"Dye."

"Yes." I nod, "Now watch."

I drag it across the stone wall as though I’m finger painting. Gavin eyes shine with amazement and awe as I draw a very sloppy version of the house we’re standing in.

"There, see?" I question, "That’s a house."

"House."

I make a hum of approval and then attempt to draw a somewhat stick figure version of Gavin. Spikey hair and all. I snicker to myself after it’s done, but I gesture to it anyways.

"And there’s Gavin."

He grins and bounces excitedly at the little drawing of him. When he reaches forward and touches it, the dye smear slightly which causes him to frown. But when he looks at the wet dye that is now on his own finger tips he stares at it with confusion.

I smile and dip my fingers into the bucket again. “Look, here’s Gavin…” I redraw him but this time inside of the house I drew earlier, “…Inside of his house. Gavin’s house.”

"Gavin’s house?" he looks away from the wall and towards me.

"Yeah. This is Gavin’s house." I gesture around us.

I watch him think it over for a few moments, but it doesn’t seem to be clicking. A glimmer of hope passes through me when he reaches for the bucket of dye himself. I want to smack my forehead when he dunks his entire hand in instead of his finger.

I watch in silence as he draws a very detailed creeper on the wall next to my terrible drawing. It’s a lot better than mine, and even though I’m certain he’s never done anything artistic before in his life, he’s really good at it.

When he finishes he turns to me with a wide smile, proud of his accomplishments. If only I were teaching him art instead of English.

I want to roll my eyes, but I can’t help but smile back at his expression. It’s obvious that he doesn’t understand, but at least he’s stupid in an adorable way.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I mutter, shaking my head softly, "That’s a creeper alright."

He beams at his success, and I chuckle while he dunks his entire hand back into the dye.

He continues to draw little things on the wall, and I spend the rest of the day laughing at his cute finger paintings of Achievement City, it’s inhabitants, and whatever else he can think of.


	8. Chapter 8

It’s nice just being able to sit back and have a few nice days. Nothing is hectic or depressing, and everybody’s just sort of hanging out and having fun.

Gavin has finally learned that the house belongs to him, and he doesn’t randomly walk in through my door at random hours of the night anymore.

We haven’t put many things in his house, not wanting him to accidentally hurt himself. So far there’s only a bed, a chest, and a big painting on the wall.

Ryan gave him one of pictures from Kung-Fu house as a house warming gift. Once Gavin learned that it Ryan was actually giving it to him as a present he went absoluetly crazy. He leaped into his arms and started crying out the word “ _Hug_!” with enthusiam.

I’ve also been teaching him more English words, and he’s starting to get the grasp on what each one means. Whenever I say something he doesn’t understand, he’ll ask about it.

It’s kind of like having a toddler, but it’s worth it in the end. Everybody thinks he’s hilarious in an annoyingly charming kind of way.

Well, everybody except for Geoff.

I think Gavin is starting to grow on him, but it’s a slow process. He’ll do or say something dumb and Geoff will laugh with the rest of us, then deny it.

He’s even decided on letting the Tower of Pimps be an actual thing. It’s what the winner gets to put in front of their house for the week.

Although Geoff seems to be quietly warming up to Gavin, I’m still worried that it’ll never be completely smooth between them. Gavin doesn’t seem to have any idea that somebody dislikes him, and continues to smile and jokingly annoy Geoff that same way he does with everybody else.

His oblivious reactions towards the frustration is just really cute.

But that’s another problem.

Gavin’s really been growing on me as well.

Of course out of all the guys’, he seems to be most fond of me. Usually he’s always the one to come and wake me up in the morning by banging on my door and then just charging in like he owns the place. Still haven’t gotten around to teaching him manners yet.

He’ll stick by my side all day and follow me around like a puppy, pointing at things he doesn’t understand or wants explained.

It’s actually amazing how fast he’s learning individual words, and he never stumbles over them once he’s gotten it in his brain. But this leads to him only being able to say a few words at a time. He doesn’t know connecting words that would make up an actual sentence.

I’ve decided that it’ll be easier to just teach him the basics first.

It’s frustrating whenever I’m trying to explain something and he can’t understand it, or if he wants something explained but I can’t figure out what it is.

So we spend a lot of time at his house, using the spare wool dye as paint to draw out things on his bare walls. It’s like a dumb little school lesson, where I draw out specific things and then tell him what they are. Then after I’ve done so many, I’ll say the words while  _he_ draws them out. He’s right every time.

We’ve gone over things like weapons, enemies, objects, animals, emotions, clothing, etc. It seems like teaching all of these basic things would be mentally draining for me, but it’s really not.

I enjoy watching him react to things like that. The excited and proud look that graces his face when he gets something right or the sly and mischevious grin when he knows he’s done something to annoy somebody else.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I shouldn’t be getting so emotionally attached to somebody. Even though he’s been with us for almost two weeks now, and everybody ( _almost_  everybody) has treated him like family, I still can’t think of him like that. It’s like our connection is deeper, and he doesn’t just seem like a brother to me like the rest of the guys’ do.

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out why I’m so enthralled by him, but it’s like the solution is blocked out and I’m not allowed to acess the information that is being screamed at me.

I think about it a lot as I try to fall asleep, but it just ends with me passing out from exhaustion. Taking care of Gavin is a lot of work even though it’s also been a lot of fun.

"Michael!" I hear somebody call out, and for a moment I think that it’s Gavin.

I haven’t seen him all day and I’ve been wondering where he’s gone off to. But I can tell from the lack of accent that it isn’t him. When I turn around I see Ryan running up to me and panting.

"Dude, you okay?" I ask, while he puts his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He coughs slightly and inhales deeply, but doesn’t wait for his breath to catch up with him before talking.

"Gavin’s gone." he states, worry evident in his eyes.

"What!?"

"I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve asked Ryan and Jack but they haven’t seen him either!"

"Damn it," I mutter under my breath.

Where could he have wandered off to? It’s not like we’re keeping him hostage here, he likes us just as much as we like him. I can’t imagine him leaving because he isn’t happy with his living arrangements or company.

Maybe he’s gotten lost and can’t find his way back. It’s obviously happened to me more than once. The little I know about how to navigate through the forest surronding Achievement City is like an encyclopida of knowledge compared to Gavin.

"Where’s Geoff?" I ask, trying not to let my concern leak through my words.

"I think he’s out building the new Let’s Play,"

"Okay," I nod, "I’ll go ask him if he’s seen any sign of Gavin. Keep looking while I’m gone though. Who knows what kind of shit that idiot’s gotten himself into."

Even though I’m keeping my voice calm and collected, I’m panicking on the inside.

As soon as I walk deep enough into the forest that I know nobody can see me, I start running towards where I know the new Let’s Play is going to be. I look through the woods as I do so, hoping to catch a glimpse of that moronic creeper boy, but I don’t have any luck.

Gavin has a tendency to not understand how dangerous certain things are, and if he’s lost out in the woods he might be in big trouble. He’s survived out there on his own for a long time before I found him, but I’m still not comfortable with it.

The chances of Geoff seeing him are slim, he always leaves really early in the morning to go build the games. Gavin would have probably still been at Achievement City when he left.

Luckily the new Let’s Play isn’t very far from the town this week, so it takes me less than ten minutes to run there.

My lungs feel like their on fire and my legs start to burn, but I don’t stop.

I pant wildly as I reach my destination, gripping my knees and trying to catch my breath. I really shouldn’t have run all the way here, I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack.

The Let’s Play appear to be on top of a huge platform that’s high up in the air. The only way to get to the top is by using the ladder going up the side, but I’m way too exhausted to event hinking about climbing ladders.

I cup my hands around my mouth and call out, “Geoff!”

After a few seconds of silence, I see his head pop up and come into my view. He’s on top of the platform, probably building something while drinking himself silly. Even though he’s slightly far away, I can still see his face and read his expressions easily.

"Michael?" he asks, sounding slightly annoyed at my being there, "Get out of here, we’re building the new Let’s Play!"

"Do you know wh-" I pause once I register what he’s said, " _We_?”

"Hi, Michael!" I hear Gavin cry out happily as his own heads pops up from behind the platform and next to Geoff.

Two emotions run through me at the same time.

Relief of Gavin being safe and not lost out in the woods somewhere. I’d expected to spend the rest of the day going on a wild chase to hunt him down. Maybe I’m taking my job of keeping him safe and happy too seriously.

But I also feel completely confused.

My face drops at the sight of him being up there with Geoff, “Gavin!? What are you doing up there?!”

"He’s helping me build the Let’s Play!" Geoff argues, and gives me a shooing motion with his hands, "Go away, you’re not allowed to see until Friday! No peeking!"

"No peeking!" Gavin repeats with a toothy grin spread across his face.

"Now get out of here, or we’ll kick your ass."

"We’ll kick your ass!" Gavin yells. Geoff laughs loudly and claps him on the back with fatherly affection. Gavin giggles and makes those annoying squeaking sounds again.

*

When the two finally came back to Achievement City hours later, I was very smug.

Geoff had been getting along with Gavin, and had actually seemed to be enjoying his company. I figured it would happen eventually since the moronic British kid seemed to be growing on him little by little, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.

As soon as I hear their laughter and slurred chatter I leave my house to meet them.

"Michael!" Gavin cries as soon as he sees me, but something about his voice is off. It sounds groggy like he’s about to pass out but is very happy about it.

Realization dawns and I let out a groan while pinch the bridge of my nose, “Geoff, did you get him drunk?”

He gives me an innocent smile but the guilt shines through, “Maybe just a little.”

"Fuck, you’re a prick."

"Hey!" he raises his hands, "It’s not my fault, he likes it! Look how happy he is."

Gavin stumbles towards me, hardly able to keep himself up. He trips up over his own two feet, but luckily I catch him before he can fall face first to the ground. He’s smiling lazily the entire time.

"Goddamnit, Geoff." I mutter.

"I’m going to bed, good luck taking care of creeper boy." he smirks.

"Wait, wait, wait." I state seriously, and Geoff lets out a groan because he knows what I’m about to ask, "What’s going on with you and Gavin? I heard you two laughing, do you trust him now? Do you want him to stay?"

Geoff lets out an unconvincing noise of denial, “Pfft, of course not.”

I raise an eyebrow and smirk at him, “Sure…”

He’s a bad liar when he’s drunk. It isn’t difficult to pry the truth from him when he’s attempting to fool somebody.

"He’s not staying until we consult with Griffon." he states, "And we’re going to go do that tomorrow."

“ _Tomorrow_? You’re that eager for him to stay here permadently?” I snicker when he glares at me. It’s obvious he’s just annoyed that I can see right through him.

"Shut the hell up."


	9. Chapter 9

We leave early in the morning to go visit Griffon. I don’t think Gavin really understands what we’re doing, but as he walks alongside me, a bounce in his step, I know he’s happy to be tagging along. As if this would even be happening if it wasn’t for him.

Sometimes we all go visit her or she’ll come to Achievement City on her own, but not very often. The only problem is that she lives in Slomoville. The town is about a five hours away, and Geoff’s tried to convince her numerous times to just live in Achievement City with us, but she always declines.

Griffon makes wood carvings and sculptures for a living, and if she lived here with us she’d never be able to sell her art. Slomoville is a very prestigious town and everybody there pays top dollar for it.

I remember when Geoff first told me about her, and I knew the kind of snobs that lived there. I expected her to be this high class, spoiled brat that Geoff was only dating for her money. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In fact, Griffon technically doesn’t live in Slowmoville. She lives in this little cottage out in the woods all on her own. Geoff often voices his concerns about how dangerous it is for her to be living alone out in the middle of the forest, but we all know that Griffon can hold her own.

“Think she’ll be pissed to see you?” Ray snickers, walking side by side with Geoff.

“What? Why would she be pissed to see me?” he seems confused and slightly worried. She’s the only person that could honestly make him fear for his life.

“Well it  _has_ been a whole month since you last came to visit.” Jack points out.

“That’s not my fault!” he argues, “She lives practically an entire days walk away. I’m too busy taking care of you jackasses.”

He’s got a point.

Usually Geoff or Griffon visit each other a few times a month. Sometimes Griffon will come and stay with us for a few weeks, but it’s been a while since she’s done that.

He gets stressed out enough from having to keep us in line, but adding Gavin on top of that has taken up all of his time lately.

I look over at Gavin, who’s walking next to me and watching the guys’ fight playfully.

“Her name is Griffon.” I inform him, wondering how much of that conversation he’s understood. His English has been getting better, and he’s start speaking in somewhat comprehensible sentences. Of course, he’s still more fond of one word answers.

“Griffon…” he repeats the word like he always does when he comes across a new one, “Nice?”

“Yeah, she’s really nice.”

I can’t imagine Griffon cutting Geoff in half with her chainsaw, but the idea makes me chuckle. She’s never been one to hold grudges against us, she’s practically a part of the Achievement City family too. Ray just knows that his taunting is pissing him off and making him worried.

“What if she tries to saw your dick off?”

“Shut the fuck up, Ray.”

*

Once we reach Slomoville we all want to groan out of annoyance. It’ll be faster just to cut through town to get to her house, but it’s always such a sigh worthy task.

Slomoville is always so loud and bustling with rude obnoxious people that think they’re better than everybody else. I’ve only been there a few scattered times, but I try to avoid it as much as I can.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.” Geoff mutters.

We see the crowds of people before we hear them, loudly chattering away as though they’re more important than everybody else, pushing their way through the others to get around, and yelling things at one another.

But even though it’s like this, everything is still so sophisticated. Just the way the townsfolk hold their heads up and carry themselves is like they’re from the 1800’s. Everything they sell in their shops are so expensive and classy that it’s no wonder how Griffon makes so much money selling her sculptures here.

Considering the fact that everybody is wearing sophisticated clothing and is perfectly clean, it’s hardly a shock that we stick out like a sore thumb. We’ve just spent the whole day walking through the forest, so we’re not in very good shape.

“Why don’t we just move  _here_ instead of convincing Griffon to come with us?” Ray mutters sarcastically after he’s bumped in the shoulder by a rude passerby.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’d have  _oodles_  of fun here.” Ryan remarks in the same tone.

“Gavin seems to like it.” Ray points out, and I turn out to see that the space Gavin was once occupying is now empty.

“What the fuck?” I turn to the guys’, “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know, I thought  _you_ were watching him!” Geoff argues.

“Fucking damn it.” I bury my face in my hands for a moment in pure frustration.

I’m willing to bet that he didn’t just get lost, he purposely walked off to see something or got distracted. It’s going to be impossible to find him in this crowd of people.

"We need to invest in a leash for that kid," Geoff mutters under his breath.

“I see him!” Ray calls out, and I look over to him to see that he’s stretched out on his tip toes, trying as hard as he can to see over the people.

Everybody else follows his gaze to see Gavin standing in the midst of people, excitedly running his eyes over everything in sight.

“Gavin!” I yell out after him, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.

As more people push and shove past us, we lose sight of him. One moment he was there, and then one guy walks in front of me, then suddenly he’s just gone. I will never understand how Gavin’s so fast and nimble without even trying.

“Fuck, let’s split up.” Geoff suggests.

He looks worried. His eyes are scanning the town and trying to pinpoint the lanky creeper boy dressed in green. The only time I’ve ever seen that concern in his expression is when one of us is in trouble.

We all scatter around, trying not to keep too far away from one another. Although we all know our way around town, it’s still easy to get lost amongst all the chaos.

I realize that this must be crazy for Gavin. He’s gone his entire life without any kind of human contact, and then he’s met a small town consisting of only five people. It’s probably been odd for him to adjust to even seeing us, so suddenly being thrust into a loud and bustling town.

"I got him!" somebody yells, and I recognize the voice as Geoff’s again.

I turn toward the direction of where it’s coming from and then let out a loud groan.

Gavin is currently standing in the big water fountain that’s in the middle of town. Geoff has a tight grip on his arm, but is standing on the dry ground.

Gavin silently laughs and kicks his feet around, causing the water to splash out and almost hit Geoff, who moves away just in time to avoid it soaking his legs.

He’s completely drenched from head to toe with water, and I assume Geoff had to fish him out of the fountain as though he’s some kind of disobident pet that can’t follow the rules.

"Good fucking job, Gavin." I yell slowly as I walk over.

He just smiles, not realizing that he almost gave me a heart attack. We really do need to teach him about rules and proper ediquette. It’s not like we’re all stuck up snobs like the people from Slowmoville, but this is getting pretty ridiculous.

"Let’s just get to Griffon’s. He should be dry by the time we get there." Geoff mutters, roughly pulling him out of the fountain and onto dry land again.

*

It’s about mid-day when we finally leave Slomoville and reach Griffon’s.

The small and simple wooden house that’s hidden away in the middle of the forest is decorated with an abundance of red flowers, which I assume is only done for Ray’s amusement. There are wood chips and some half finished sculptures scattered around the front.

“What’s this?” Gavin asks, lightly trailing his fingers down the smooth wood of one.

“Griffon makes them.” I explain loosely. It’s difficult having to dumb down your vocabulary for somebody that’s the same age as you.

Geoff stands in front of the door and raises his fist to it, but before he can knock, Ray speaks.

“If she tries to attack, we got your back.”

“I swear to God, Ray. I will kick your dick in.”

As soon as he says those words the front door opens and Griffon is standing there in all of her glory. Her arched brows and the fact that she has her chainsaw in her hands makes Geoff shrink back and lower his raised fist.

Griffon is a lot like Geoff in some ways. They’re both covered in colourful tattoo’s and piercings. She’s a certified bad ass but is still gorgeous and a total sweet heart. She has her hair pulled back into two short and low ponytails, and she’s wearing a simple blue tank top and black pants.

“Hey, Griffon…” he drags out the words nervously as she shifts her weight onto one leg.

“Stop looking like a guilty puppy,” she scoffs at him, “It’s only been a month, don’t be such a baby.”

He lets out a dramatic sigh of relief and grins before bringing her in for a quick peck on the lips.

“Okay, so what’s going on with you guys? What crisis needs to be solved?” she questions, putting her chainsaw down behind the door.

“Is it so impossible to think that I came to visit because of how much I love you?”

She smirks, “If you did you wouldn’t have cock-blocked yourself by bringing all of Achievement City along. Now what’s up?”

“Okay, fine. We have a…  _creeper_  problem.” he tries to word it in the easiest way possible, but it’s a difficult thing to explain.

“Does this have anything to do with the damp shaggy haired cutie hiding behind Michael?” she questions, trying to peek at Gavin. Once he sees her looking at him he shys even further behind me.

“Yes.”

She smiles and holds open the door, “Come on in.”

*

“So he was alone?” Griffon asks, laying out on the couch with her legs in Geoff’s lap.

“Apparently. He lived out in the woods by himself for who knows how long.” I explain and look over at the boy in question. He’s staring intently at Griffon as though he’s trying to figure something out. He always does this with new people he meets, it’s no surprise that he went a little crazy in town.

“How’d you find him?”

I open my mouth to explain, but I’m cut off by somebody else speaking.

“Michael got lost like an idiot and Gavin saved his ass from being blown up.” Jack explains loosely. I glare at him but he just shrugs.

Griffon sees Gavin staring at her, and she stares right back. Everything is quiet for a moment as the two study each other, their faces show how deep in thought they are.

It looks almost as though they’re speaking to one another telepathically. Geoff raises an eyebrow and looks between the two with confusion

None of us speak as this silent exchange happens between them.

Finally Griffon smiles, “I like him.”

Gavin’s face breaks into a grin at the sight of her friendly smile, and he claps happily. The two appear to share a moment of understanding, but nobody other than them seems to really know what’s going on.

He changes seats so that he sitting next to Griffon instead of me, and it makes my stomach sink a little in rejection. But I know that it isn’t because he’s more fond of her than he is of me, he’s just happy to meet a new person. This is his way of showing that he approves of her.

"Aw, he’s like a little puppy," she cooes playfully, and smirks at Geoff. It’s apparent she’s only saying that too annoy her boyfriend, who’s rolling his eyes at her. "Let’s adopt him, Geoff."

"Shut the hell up," he grumbles, "He’s a person, not a dog."

She smiles and then turns to me, “Does he like it there at Achievement City? Is he gonna stay?”

"I guess so. He seems pretty content there. I’ve been teaching him some English and stuff." I shrug, and try to calm down Gavin who’s bouncing around in his seat excitedly. He must really like Griffon.

"Good." she smiles, and wraps an arm around Gavin.

"Hug!" he cries, excited to share his knowledge of her actions.

I smirk when I realize I have the opportunity to throw Geoff under the bus, “Somebody doesn’t want him to stay though because they think he’s dangerous.”

Her mouth drops open at that and she immediantly turns to glare at Geoff, “What!? Why!?”

His eyes widen and he puts up his hands in surrender, “He didn’t say  _me_!”

"But it is you though, right?"

"I…um…" he tries to look anywhere other than her eyes.

"You jerk! How could you think he’s dangerous? Just look at that face!" she squishes his cheeks and pulls his face towards Geoff, who rolls his eyes once again.

He sighs and glares at me once more before trying to argue with Griffon. Watching them fight is like seeing your own parents arguing over curtain colours. They act as though it’s some big deal and they yell as though they hate each other, but you always know deep down that they love each other unconditionally and would never even thinking of breaking up.

"I’m just looking out for everybody, alright?" he grumbles.

"Stop being so paranoid. _I_ approve of Gavin, and everybody else seems to as well. If I go to visit Achievement City and Gavin is not there because you sent him off, there will be hell to pay, mister.” she glares at him playfully. He can’t help but smile and shove her shoulder in an equally playful manner.

Looks like Gavin is staying.

As if we didn’t already know that.

*

"Come visit soon, okay?" Geoff asks, holding Griffon in a tight hug.

"Michael, look! Hug!" Gavin yells, and points to the two.

Griffon laughs but Geoff rolls his eyes in annoyance, “Yes, asshole. We’re hugging, get over it!”

Gavin giggles. I’m not sure if he’s unaware of Geoff’s anger towards him or if he just finds it amusing. But whatever happened during the Let’s Play building, they seemed to have bonded a bit.

Geoff doesn’t sound  _as_ angry and annoyed with Gavin as he used to. That edge is taken off of his voice and he even grins before turning back to Griffon and pressing his lips to hers as he wraps his arms around her waist.

I look away from them and towards Gavin, who’s watching them and raises an eyebrow at their show of affection. I cover his eyes and turn him away, “Dude, don’t watch that. It’s like watching your own parents making out. It’s gross.”

"Come on! Stop sucking face and let’s go! I wanna be home before dark!" Ray yells, and Geoff gives him the middle finger without even dettaching himself from Griffon. I roll my eyes but snicker at it.

Eventually they stop though and everybody lets out a dramatic sigh as if to say “Finally!”

But I can’t really blame them. It has been an entire month since they’ve seen one another, and they can’t even have any alone time since all of us are here. I hope Griffon comes to visit soon, it’s always fun because sometimes she’ll even stay for a few weeks at a time.

"I love you." Griffon says to him and gives him a final kiss on the cheek. She smiles as Jack grabs his arm and begins dragging him away from her.

"I love you more!" he yells, laughing out loud at the situation. She waves us goodbye from her doorway as we disappear into the woods.

*

During our long walk back home, the sun starts to lower in the sky. It will probably be dark by the time we arrive, but that’s okay. We’ve brought torches and weapons just in case.

"Hey, man." Ray nudges me with his elbow, "Think he’s tired?"

I look over and see Gavin’s eyes drooping and his walking has increasingly become more sluggish. He doesn’t even notice anybody’s talking and seems to be a few steps away from just passing out due to exhaustion.

I snicker, and put my arm around him before such a thing can happen. “You okay, buddy?” I ask him.

He blinks a few times but doesn’t react in any other way that lets me know he’s heard me.

"What’s wrong with him?" Jack asks.

"I think he’s just spent from all of the excitement today." Ryan says while holding Gavin’s face up.

He doesn’t even flinch as his head is moved around slightly. He just relaxes into Ryan’s hand as he closes his eyes more.

"Should we spend the night here so he can get some sleep? I don’t think he can last any longer." I point out.

"Nah, we’re only an hour away. Here," Geoff says, and crouches down, "Lift him onto my back, I’ll carry him."

Ryan easily picks up the sleepy boy and rests him onto Geoff, giving him a piggyback ride. I grin at his unknowing affection, he doesn’t even realize how nice he’s being to Gavin by doing this.

Even without Griffon’s warnings and pleads, Geoff would still be as fond of Gavin as he is now. Even though she was just joking, it doesn’t seem very unrealistic for the two to adopt him.

I imagine the three of them, as some kind of silly pesudo family. The tattooed and pierced, chainsaw wielding badass, the lazy and sleepy boyfriend that drinks all hours of the day, and their adopted foreign creeper son that can’t yet properly speak English.

It’s an adorable image, but I wish I could fit in there somewhere. To be somebody other than just the guy that lives in the same town as them. Gavin and I are closer than that, aren’t we? I care about him more than anybody else.

He rests on Geoff’s back easily, his arms coming up to wrap around his neck as though he’s a teddy bear of sorts. Which isn’t all that impractical for a description of Geoff.

His cheek is squished a little against the back of Geoff’s shoulder blade and the gentle long breathing only shows how deep of a sleep he’s in.

"You really do like him, don’t you?" Ray questions quietly, his voice sounding uncharasteriscally understanding. Yet there’s still the smallest hint of teasing in there.

"W-what?" I question, stuttering over my words. I didn’t expect to be taken from my thoughts so abruptly, "Well of course I do. I care about him just as much as I do you and the rest of the guys."

"No. " he smirks and shakes his head, "You know what I mean."

It pisses me off, because I do.

And he’s right.


	10. Chapter 10

Gavin never tires of learning English. Even after we’re all insanely tired from our long trek to visit Griffon, he’s still banging on my door in the early hours of the morning.

"I’m going to murder you!" I yell out, knowing he can hear me from behind the door.

It’s just my luck that he doesn’t understand and takes it as an invitation to come in.

I groan and let my head fall back onto my pillow.

I’m under the impression that Gavin never sleeps. How he has all of this bubbly energy I will never understand. It doesn’t seem physically possible for somebody to be so happy and excited all of the time with such a limited amount of sleep.

Before I can shout at him to go away, he’s already opened the door and is standing next to my bed.

"Teach?" he questions, "Now?"

"I don’t want to teach you anything right now." I mutter, "I want to sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Yeah, like this." I close my eyes and relax my head into my pillow to give him an example. When I peek an eye open I see him nodding with a smile on his face.

"No sleep!" he cries, and literally drags me out of the bed.

*

I try to surpress my yawns as we stand infront of the finger-painted walls in his house.

We’re going to run out of wall to draw on soon. We sure as hell aren’t drawing on my walls when the time comes.

He sits there patiently, completely unaware of my exhausted state. I want to be annoyed or angry, but he just looks so eager to be taught new things. He always comes to my door in the mornings, wakes me up, and then we go back to his house for this odd English lesson type thing.

He doesn’t understand that I’m tired and need to rest after such a long day yesterday. I don’t have the energy to draw any new things.

"Okay." I sigh, wanting to get this over with, "No new words today. We’re going to do some review."

"Review?"

"Yes. Do you remember what this is?" I point at the simple drawing of a sword. I remember drawing it a few days ago when I taught him about weapons.

"Sword!"

"Uh-huh," I say approvingly, and walk across the length of the wall to reach a different drawing. "This one?" I point to the simple image of a smiley face.

"Happy!"

I wordlessly point to the one next to it, which dipicts a sad face.

Gavin mimicks it by pulling his mouth down into a frown, “Sad.”

I chuckle, “Yeah. What’s this?”

"A pig!" he makes a few snorting noises.

"And this?" I gesture to the picture of a cow.

"Edgar!"

"No." I rub my face with my hand in frustration, "It’s just a cow. You’ve been hanging out with Ryan too much."

He just giggles. He knows that it’s a cow, but he likes the whole Edgar thing. When we first showed him the trapped animal he was concerned, and knocked on the glass seperating the poor cow from freedom. But now, much like the rest of us, he seems to accept it as normal. Gavin really is becoming one of us.

I point my finger at the drawing he made on that first day we started doing this. The extremely well done image of a creeper that sticks out like a sore thumb when it’s surronding by my sloppy half-assed pictures.

"Creeper!" he yells, and begins speaking in creeper to demonstrate his answer further.

That causes me to stop pointing at the wall altogether and quirk an eyebrow. I’ve never questioned his ability to speak creeper before and seemed to completely forget about it up until now.

He hisses happily without any hesitation in the pattern. Maybe creeper is his main language.

"How do you do that?"

"Speak creeper?" he questions.

"Yeah."

"Easy!" he grins, happy at my curiousity. He continues hissing at me with a smile on his face.

It’s weird to be the one that doesn’t understand. Gavin could be speaking complete and full sentences to me right now but it completely goes over my head. Is this what he feels like whenever we say something he hasn’t been taught yet?

I can’t imagine sitting here all day, trying to memorize which hissing noise goes with which drawing on the wall. Learning another language sounds practically impossible, but Gavin is learning English without any problem at all.

"Teach me." I say, nodding my head with confidence. If it’s this easy for Gavin to learn English, it can’t be that hard for me to learn creeper, right?

"Michael speak creeper?" he questions, giving me a confused look.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head quickly, "Show me how."

He smiles wide at the oppourtunity to be the teacher for once and stands in front of me.

After pointing to his mouth, he hisses a single note, then gestures to me.

I micmic the noise, trying to match the simple pitch.

He nods happily once I get it right. Then he hisses two more notes, and looks at me expectantly.

I do the same thing again, making odd facial expressions as I unsurely try to match the tone. I’ve never realized how alike all hissing noises are. Making them sound different from one another is difficult.

Gavin giggles at my faces but claps once I’ve hissed the two notes succesfully.

"Now all," he says.

I don’t understand what he means at first, but when he stands there patiently, waiting for me, I finally catch on.

I hiss out the three different notes, sounding them out altogether without any breaks in between them. Much like how Gavin was earlier when he was speaking fluent creeper.

When I finish the short (what I asssume is) sentence, Gavin faces breaks out into the biggest grin I’ve ever seen.

I smile, “Did I say it right?”

He doesn’t respond because he probably doesn’t understand, and just forcefully pulls me into a hug. I let out a laugh at how excited he is.

Just simply speaking creeper couldn’t be all  _that_  exciting for him. When Gavin first spoke English I didn’t react like this. But I still do feel a surge of pride whenever he says something that’s related to me. Maybe I’ve said something related to him and he gets to feel that pride now.

"What did I say?" I ask, still chuckling as he releases me from the hug.

He tries to tone down his smile but it doesn’t work. Shaking his head softly, he doesn’t respond or explain in any way what I’ve hissed.

When I open my mouth to question him further about it, he simply turns away and opens up a fresh tin of purple wool dye.

I think for a moment that he’s going to draw what I’ve said, but he just draws an image of Griffon. She stands next to the other pictures we’ve drawn of the members of Achievement City, next to Geoff and holding his hand.

I scoff. At least when I teach him English I tell him what he’s saying. But it’s obvious that he’s completely lost interest in this subject.

"Griffon." he points at his very detailed finger painting. I’m past the point of being in awe at how good he is at making little drawings in such a short amount of time.

"Yeah, that’s Griffon." I smile, allowing the previous subject to leave our conversation completely, "Did you like her?"

"Yes." he nods happily, with a grin on his face.

"Hopefully she comes to visit soon. It’s always fun when she’s around. Geoff’s always a lot happier too." I smirk.

Gavin eyebrows furrow as he thinks about something, deep in thought and looking past me.

“Geoff and Griffon…” he murmurs.

“Yeah? What about them?”

“They…” he scrunches his eyebrows together in concentration, and it’s obvious he’s trying to think of the words to describe what he’s confused about.

Usually when this happens he’s able to point it out or show it to me, but if it’s something that can’t be referred to at the moment, usually he’s able to act it out or draw it for me. We’ve gotten the hang of communicating to each other like this.

“Do you want to draw it? Or just show me? Or…?” I shrug.

He looks back up at me and nods before cupping my cheeks in his hands softly. Before I can question it, he brings his face closer to mine and connects our lips.

For somebody that obviously hasn’t kissed before since he has no idea what it is, he’s a really good kisser.

It’s nothing special, just the simple feel of his lips against mine.But the feeling that courses through my veins, the fuzziness and warmth that floods my head it’s too powerful to refer to the action as simple.

His lips are soft and sweet against mine. It makes me want to lift my hands up and tangle my fingers into his hair to bring him closer to me. But they’re stuck to my sides and I’m just frozen in complete shock.

It ends quickly. Gavin takes a step back from me, and judging by the expression on his face he has no idea what the significance is of an act like that.

“That…. Uh…” I try to find my words, but it’s like my brain isn’t connecting with my mouth.

Gavin raises an eyebrow in concern, “Michael?”

“That was a kiss.” I finally manage to say, “It’s uh… it’s what you do when you love somebody.”

“Love.” he repeats slowly and looks away from me for a moment in thought, “Geoff and Griffon kiss because love?”

I nod quickly, trying to push any remaining thoughts of Gavin’s lips being on mine out of my brain. “Yeah, Geoff and Griffon kissed because they love each other.”

My mind is still buzzing and my lips are still tingling with some unknown feeling, but I try to ignore it as best I can.

Gavin’s pulls his eyebrows together again, “What’s love?”

“I don’t know,” I let out an annoyed sigh, trying to finish this conversation quickly, “It’s what you feel for somebody you care about. Like your family or somebody you’re dating, I guess.”

“Family…” he repeats testing the word out of his tongue, “What’s family?”

Finally, a question I’m able to deal with.

“It’s people that you’re close too and take care of.”

“Michael has family?” he asks.

“Yeah, I guess. Geoff, Griffon, Ryan, Ray, and Jack are my family. But it can also be a mom or dad, people that love you and would do anything to protect you.”

“Family…” he repeats the word to himself, still thinking over my description and not even noticing my current state of panic.

Gavin just kissed me. He kissed me and it was actually… I liked it. Fuck, I liked it.

I want to pull him close to me again, feel his skin against mine, and tangle my fingers in that messy hair of his. But at the same time I don’t want to. I want to completely back away from him and scream at myself for thinking crap like this.

Why is this only happening now? Why am I coming to this insane conclusion right at this very second? What is the conclusion!? Do I  _like_  Gavin?

I need to get out of here. I need to go talk to somebody or throw myself off a cliff.

“Uh, I gotta go, Gav. I’ll talk to you later.” I say quickly.

I leave his house as quickly as I can, slamming the door behind me and not even giving him enough time to say good-bye.

*

"Ray." I yell loudly, barging into his house.

He immediately sits up in his bed out of fright, and it’s apparent that I’ve woken him up with my loud shouting. He looks up at me with eyebrows raised in alarm and confusion as I walk in and sit down on the empty chair in the corner.

"Come in?" he says sarcastically, and attemtps to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

He’s a much better sport than I am about being woken up in the early hours of the morning. Or maybe he just realizes that I’m going insane right now and he’s too good of a friend to brush me off for the sake of getting a few more hours of sleep.

I don’t even register him saying anything because I’m too busying running my fingers through my hair and trying to sort out my own thoughts. How do I bring it up?

"I think I like Gavin." I state outright.

He snorts, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

"Come on, Ray." I groan, "This is serious."

I’m not sure why I thought going to Ray would be a good idea. I knew that he’d make fun but he’s also the only other person that’s my age other than Gavin.

I don’t want to go to Geoff because he’s still slightly hesitant about Gavin, plus he’s actually in a relationship. Jack would just tease me endlessly. Ryan’s advice would consist of digging a hole in the middle of my house and locking Gavin in there forever.

At least Ray can have semi-serious conversations at times, even if there’s always an underlying tone of sarcasm, nonchalance, and teasing.

"Okay, fine. So you like Gavin? Big deal." he rolls his eyes, "What do you think will come of it?"

"I don’t know." I mutter, "I’m just pissed off."

"Why?"

"Because it’s  _Gavin_!”

"Yeah," he drags out the word with annoyance, "Don’t you  _like_  him?”

I bury my face into my hands in a futile effort to bury myself away forever. The only thing it succeeds in doing is muffling my voice. “That’s what I just said, asshole.”

"Not what I mean." he says, and I lift my head to quirk an eyebrow at him, "You’re the one that was so adament in convincing us all that he was real. You’re the one that found him again and then immediately brought him to Achievement City to help him and let him live here. You’re the one fighting so hard to get Geoff’s approval, and you’re the one teaching him English so that we’ll be able to communicate with him better."

I already know all of this. “What’s your point?”

"My point is that  _of course_  you like Gavin. You’ve liked him since he first hung upside from that tree branch or whatever. Whenever you’re with him you just smile like an idiot and every second he isn’t with you, you freak out. It’s been like this since he’s come here, and you seriously haven’t noticed it?”

I’m at a loss for words, but after a few seconds I’m finally able to squeak out a feeble, “No?”

"Then you’re the only person in Achievement City that needs his eyes checked. Even though you may not have liked him in that way at first, you’ve always liked him one way or another. You’re constantly talking about him when he isn’t around, and when he is you’re both stuck to each other like glue. Just suck it up and kiss the dude already."

Ray usually isn’t one for speeches, and even as he says all of that he sounds both bored and annoyed at my idiocy.

It’s only when I don’t respond that his eyes widen and his mouth forms into a grin. Now he finally seems completely interested in this conversation, which I am not pleased about at all.

"You’ve already kissed him!?" he yells, but it’s said with a knowing tone.

"No!" I yell, trying to summon the power to stop my cheeks from burning.

He gives me a blank stare for a few moments, obviously trying to find out the truth through my facial expressions. I try not to look guilty but I can’t stop myself from blushing and looking away.

He gasps and grins wide, “ _He_  kissed  _you_!”

"Ray, can you please just stop with all of this?" I groan, not wanting to talk about the whole kiss thing.

"What are you talking about? You came in here to talk about it."

He has a point. But I think I mainly just wanted to be somewhere where I wasn’t alone with my thoughts and unable to be brought to these realizations.

Now that that’s backfired on me, I don’t know why I thought this would be a good idea. Ray may be a sarcastic little asshole, but he’s pretty smart.

Not Ryan smart, but definietly not Gavin dumb.

But I’d known that coming to talk to him about it would end with a lecture on how stupid I am. It’s like I’ve always known deep down inside that I’ve had this spark of interest when it’s come to Gavin, and it’s only now that it’s been pointed out that I realize that it might be more than that.

But fuck if I’ll ever admit that to anybody.

"I just… I don’t know, Ray. I feel like I’m going crazy."

"Love crazy."

"Your jokes aren’t helping."

"Just don’t turn into Geoff."

"Ray." I state, glaring at him. He just rolls his eyes at my anger.

"I don’t understand why you’re freaking out about this. What’s so wrong with liking Gavin?" he shrugs, "Ya’know, other than the fact that he’s a total moron that can’t speak English."

I don’t bother responding to that, and just let out a loud sigh of exhausperation before burying my face into my hands again. Why does all the complicated shit have to happen to me?

I wish I could be like the other guys.

I want to be able to drink and not give two shits about anybody elses’ opinions like Geoff. To give up on something if it’s pissing me off and build a house instead like Jack. To just trap anything I like into a hole like Ryan. Or even just to shrug everything off without a care in the world like Ray.

Even Gavin is better at dealing with things than me.

He can just stare at something for a few seconds and decide if he likes it or not. He’s able to just smile at the things he likes, and frown at those that he doesn’t.

That gleam he gets in his eyes when something new and exciting is happening. The way he smiles happily once he understands a concept and is pleased with it. How he can just find the good in everything he sees and doesn’t hesitate to be close to things he deems good.

He’s so curious and anxious to try new things. He doesn’t fear or approach anything with caution. He’s just optimistic and doesn’t see the negatives.

He’s just perfect in every possible way, and it pisses me off to no end.

Ray snickering pulls me out of my thoughts, and I realize I’ve been staring off into space thinking about Gavin. He realizes it too.

"Dude, you got it bad."


	11. Chapter 11

I’m usually not the kind of person that sweeps issues like this under the rug and pretends that they don’t exist. But this is Gavin we’re talking about. He’s a special circumstance.

So I’d spend my time trying to act as though I had no feelings for him at all. For the most part it worked. Nobody besides Ray really caught on, but then again they might have known this entire time and just don’t want to say anything.

If that’s true, then at least they’re smart enough to keep their mouths shut and know that I don’t want to talk about it. The most they ever do is make mocking “Aww” noises when Gavin and I are close to one another.

But we can’t help it. The two of us have been stuck together side by side ever since he first started living here. It’s been, what? Three weeks now? And it seems as though we get closer and closer everyday.

 

He’s always jumping on everybody’s backs, and giving out random hugs for no apparent reasons, but it seems like it’s so much more with me. He lingers just a little bit longer, and embraces me just a little bit tighter.

Such a thing is both a negative and positive in my perspective. Feeling him so close to me sends those euphoric shivers down my spine, and allows me to inhale the charming scent of his hair. He smells faintly of forest and the wool dye that still slightly stains his fingers.

I hate that I’m allowing myself to fall deeper and deeper into this obsession with Gavin. Ray was right. We’re constantly with each other, and when we’re not, I’m desperate to know where he is and what’s he’s doing at all times. I’m like a pathetic mix between an obsessed best friend and a clingy boyfriend.

But Gavin doesn’t seem to mind it in the slightest. When he sees me coming out of my house, the happiness I feel in my chest upon seeing him is exactly what’s displayed across his face.

I wish I could be more like him. To express my emotions carelessly and happily without any worry of backlash or rejection. But maybe that’s why Gavin makes his liking of me so obvious. Maybe he thinks this is just how friends act around one another and not doting boyfriends.

I’ll just let him keep thinking that.

It’s not very often that I wake up on my own accord anymore. Usually I’m roughly pulled out of my sleep by loud banging fists on my door, or a loud and excitable Gavin hopping around my room. Usually yelling nonsense like “Sun is up! Michael up!”

So it feels unfamiliar to slowly drift back into consciousness, no loud noises or actions causing the process to quicken.

One would think I’d be grateful for this kind of luxury. Ever since Gavin came around I’ve never really gotten a chance to sleep in or relax.

It almost sends me into a panic. Why would Gavin not be in here? Where is he? Is he okay? In fact as soon as I realize this I sit up in my bed immediately and check the room for any signs of Gavin’s presence.

He could have come in, then decided to let me sleep, and left. But that doesn’t seem very likely. One, Gavin is never that quiet. Two, the door is closed. He still hasn’t fully comprehended the idea of closing doors behind him, and has a bad habit of leaving them wide open as he leaves and enters rooms.

I jump out of bed quickly, shoving on my usual clothes. I probably look ridiculous hopping around my room, trying to get dressed as fast as possible.

When I’m stepping out of my house, I’m still pulling my shirt over my head.

"Hey, Michael!" a voice calls out. I feel guilty for being disappointed that it isn’t Gavin yelling for me. Instead it’s Ray, who’s standing around with the rest of the guys.

When they turn towards me they all say the usual hello’s and good morning’s.

"Where’s Gavin? I ask, trying to not sound worried.

"He’s still sleeping." Ryan waves off, "Poor kid had a rough night."

"Rough how?"

Geoff’s eyes widen at my question, but before he can brush it off and give me an unclear answer, Ray responds.

"Geoff got him wasted last night after you went to bed. Poor guy was totally out of it." Ray snickers, and glares at Geoff when his shoulder connects with his back.

I raise an eyebrow, “You gave him beer again?”

He shrugs and looks away, trying to give off the look of innocence and nonchalance. I know him better than that. “You’re a dick.”

He raises his hands in surrender and glares at me too, “Don’t get mad at me, the kid likes them! Even calls them  _bevs_  because he can’t quite pronounce beverages properly.

"In all honesty, mixing that boy with alcohol is not a good idea." Jack mutters, thinking over the events of last night.

I can only imagine the kind of crazy annoying stuff Gavin would do/say while inebriated.

"Fuck you, Jack," Geoff grins, "It was hilarious and you know it."

"I’ll be annoyed at this later," I shake my head, clearing the thought away, "What are you guys doing?"

"I’m testing to see how far away you can shoot a picture frame off of a wall with an arrow." Geoff says, and that briefly explains why he has a bow and arrow in his hands.

"Why? Are we having a Let’s Play involving that?"

He smirks at me, “Maybe.”

We all roll our eyes. Geoff always attempts to keep the game some kind of big secret, but usually he’ll let the game-play or main premise slip without even noticing it. It’s pretty amusing at times.

Geoff raises the bow, steadying himself to shoot the painting that was placed onto his wall.

Gavin’s scream pulls all of our attention towards him. He’s staring at the weapon in Geoff’s hand with horror and disbelief. We didn’t even notice him walking out of his house, but as soon as he saw the bow and arrow he stopped dead in the middle of his doorway.

I start running to him immediately, the others stay where they are, too confused or shocked to move. Not that I blame them, I’d be the same way if I didn’t have this weird over protective thing over the guy.

"No!" he cries out, covering his face with his hands as his knees give out, "No! No! No! No! No!"

"Gavin?" I question, panic and concern evident in my voice, I reach out to rub his back comfortingly "Are you oka-"

I stop talking and retract my hand when he flinches harshly at my touch. He’s never been scared of me before, and it fills me with a feeling I can’t describe. Mainly guilt. Even though I have no idea what is happening, my main worry right now is Gavin and the fact that he looks terrified.

I don’t even realize that he’s went back into his house until I hear the slam of his door. Maybe he is catching onto the whole ‘closing doors’ thing.

"What the hell was that?" Geoff asks. I turn to see that he looks just as concerned as me.

We all just stand there, trying to make sense of what’s happened. Nobody knows the answer to Geoff’s question, so nobody asks.

*

"Gavin?" I ask, trying to keep my voice quiet as I walk into his house.

It’s really quiet. Usually he makes a lot of noise, even when he’s all by himself. I’d expected to walk in here and see him right away, it’s not like his house is very big.

I don’t see him anywhere.

But what I do see is the picture that Ryan gave him as a gift has been taken off the wall, revealing a hidden room behind it.

My eyes widen in disbelief and amusement. Did Gavin really make a secret room? It wouldn’t surprise me. He’d probably have a Tower of Pimps hidden away in there.

But when I walk in it’s nothing like what I expected. He’s sitting in the middle of the floor, with his back turned to me. He hasn’t realized that I’ve come in yet, and he’s just staring at the walls above him.

There are two torches in there, which light up the painting on the wall across from us.

Gavin’s always been good at making little art works or doodles with wool dye, but I didn’t know he was  _this_ good. Covering the entire wall is a picture of two adult creepers, a tiny young one, and Gavin. All close to one another and smiling happily.

It’s like a big mural.

"Gavin?" I ask quietly, fearing that if I speak too loudly I might scare him.

He jumps a little at the sound of my voice, and turns to look up at me. I see the tears running down his cheeks, but his face is still emotionless.

"Michael," he acknowledges me.

"What is this?" I ask, stepping forward and sitting down next to him.

He looks away from me and back at the picture. I see the sadness that fills his eyes as he points to it.

"Family." he murmurs.

I nod silently, knowing that if I question it he wouldn’t understand or be able to explain. Gavin having a creeper family doesn’t really make any sense, but judging by the emotion on his face, he misses and loves them. I know creepers sometimes live in packs, and they do have children. But not human children.

How did Gavin get tangled up into living with creepers? Since he doesn’t know English it must have been when he was really young. Young enough to be taught by them and learn creeper as his native tongue.

Maybe Gavin really  _hasn’t_  been around people before.

"Where are they now?" I murmur, watching his face as he studies his own paint covered wall.

"Gone."

That one word pieces together so much.

Why he was alone when I found him, why he misses his family so much, and why he’s happy to be with others again. He’s never fought to get away from us or even suggested going out on his own again, and that’s probably because he’s so relieved to not be alone anymore.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

I’m willing to stop the conversation there, and just simply comfort him. But he stands and picks up one of the many cans of wool dye that are scattered on the floor and opens it.

"Show." he murmurs while dipping his hand into it.

He doesn’t speak anymore, and neither do I. He’s not going to tell me what happened by talking, but by drawing it on these walls. Seems kind of ironic since this is how I’ve been teaching him things for the past few weeks. The only difference is that his artwork is much better than mine.

I must have sat there for hours. Watching the dye drip off of his fingers and makes messy splashes onto the floor. But when the colors were being spread against by the wall by his delicate and long fingers, it all just came together so well. It was beautiful, I didn’t think it was possible for somebody to be so good at painting with wool dye.

It tells the perfect story without using any words at all.

Gavin was happy, living with a group of creepers out in the woods. An older female, an older male, and a tinier one. They were like a little family, and lived in a cozy little cave.

But then hunters came around. Gavin draws them as big evil monsters with bows and arrows, shooting at his family. They run to get away but an arrow hits the female creeper. Gavin wants to go back but his father urges him to continue on, to go back once their lives aren’t in danger.

He climbs up a tree and reaches down to help the rest of his family up, but it’s too late. Arrows hit them, and they’re down within seconds. Gavin cries out in pain as it happens, unable to help or do anything other than watching from the tree branch.

When the hunters come closer to find him, he climbs higher up into the tree so that he can’t be seen.

The next picture depicts him walking through the woods, all by himself.

Gavin doesn’t sob or wail when he finishes. I notice the tears that continue to trail down his cheeks as his eyes scan his work. The emptiness and longing that lies within them.

I see his hand twitching a little at his side, and I know he’s fighting himself not to reach out and touching the things he’s drawn. Desperate to feel or hug his family. But he knows that it will just smudge it, and he knows that it’s not possible to be with his family again.

I don’t look at the walls anymore. I look at him, and how his face crumples in misery and pain.

“Gavin.” I say slowly. I’m not sure why I say his name, but I just want him to know that I’m here for him.

He turns and looks at me, and the look in his eyes tells me that he almost forgot I was here. He’s been so caught up in his own emotions that he’s been ignoring everything else other than the walls surrounding him.

“Gavin…” he starts off, but then closes his eyes and shakes his head, “No family.”

I hold open my arms, “Come here.”

He obeys instantly, sitting in my lap and allowing me to wrap my arms around him. His face is buried in my chest and he finally lets it all out.

His tears soak through my shirt and I rub his back as he sobs. I unconsciously rock us back and forth as I whisper reassurances into his ear. Telling him that it’s going to be okay.


	12. Chapter 12

I didn’t tell the guy’s about it, and they didn’t try to pry. After explaining to them that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to have bows and arrows around the town for Gavin’s sake, they all nodded and hid them away.

It surprises me how easily everybody is willing to do things for him. He isn’t just a stranger we’ve found in the woods anymore, he’s one of us, and we want him to be comfortable and happy here.

We continued on as though nothing happened, and the main reason was because Gavin seemed content to act as though it didn’t exist. He didn’t make any mentions of it, try to talk about it, or start crying anymore.

He ended up crying himself to sleep in my arms that day. As I tucked him into his bed, I kissed his forehead and wiped the remaining tears off of his cheeks. I studied his face, and didn’t bother taking my arm out from under him yet, just reveling in the feeling of having him so close to me.

While he sleeps he looks so peaceful. He isn’t filled with pain or suffering anymore. He’s relaxed and calm, breathing in and out deeply, but still so vulnerable in my arms.

Gavin may be a total idiot that constantly annoys everybody around him, but I would do anything to protect him and make sure he doesn’t go through something like this again.

*

Gavin’s always been known to make loud and intrusive entrances, he has no understanding of privacy or alone time. So it’s never really much of a surprise whenever he bursts into my room in the early hours of the morning, screaming at the top of his lungs like a crazy person.

"Griffon! Griffon! Griffon! Griffon!" Gavin yells happily as he bounces into my room.

I sit up in my bed and rub the sleep out of my eyes. Although I’ve been woken up like this for the past few weeks, I’m still not entirely used to it. You reach a point where you know it’s going to happen, you dread it, but it’ll happen regardless your view on it.

It’s like my sleeping cycle just wants to curl up and die whenever Gavin runs into my house, yelling at the top of his lungs.

I’m also familiar with his screaming out random words. He’s not fond of the phrase, “Good morning” or “Wake up” so instead he’ll settle on the random English words that he knows. But this is the first time he’s ever used a name (other than mine) to wake me up.

"What about her?" I question, my voice still groggy.

"She’s here!" a different voice yells.

My eyes widen as Griffon steps into my house, her arms open wide as she announces her arrival. The shock of seeing her makes me completely wake up.

She looks slightly tired, but that’s probably due to the fact that she woke up _really_ early in order to arrive in town at this time. She’s just wearing a simple t-shirt and shorts, the weather being too warm for anything more. She looks just as happy to see Gavin as he is to see her.

"Griffon!" I yell, a grin forming across my face, "I didn’t know you were coming!"

"I didn’t tell anybody" she explains while I get up from my bed to welcome her with a hug, "I was actually going to go surprise Geoff first, but Gavin here spotted me from his bedroom window."

He’s finally learned that he should not try to wake me up before sunrise, and it seems like he’s actually holding onto that. Who knows how long he spends sitting in front of his window, just waiting for the sun. It doesn’t matter to me though, the longer the sun takes, the more I get to sleep.

She laughs loudly and hugs me back. The sight of seeing us hugging prompts Gavin to join in.

"Hug!" he cries, while squeezing us as tight as he can.

It’s been a few days since I found out about Gavin’s past, and I’m so relieved that he hasn’t been suffering anymore. He looks just as happy as ever, and seems to have pushed the subject from his brain completely.

It makes me kind of worried for him, but I figure seeing him happy like this is better than seeing him sobbing in pain again.

Griffon laughs as I yell at Gavin to let us go. When he finally relents, he still bounces around a little, still excited at seeing Griffon again. It really didn’t take long for him to warm up to her. But then again, she’s always had this motherly and sweet air around her.

It’s not hard to completely love Griffon. When Geoff told me about her, I thought she would be just as stuck up and snobbish as the rest of the people from Slomoville. It didn’t take very long to find out she is actually one of the coolest people ever.

When I step away from her and stand beside Gavin, she looks at the two of us. Her eyes almost look suspicious as they narrow, and I worry momentarily about what she’s thinking.

"Hey, Gavin? Can you do me a favor?" she asks, speaking slowly as though that will help him understand better.

His eyebrows furrow in confusion, but you can see the concentration in his eyes as he tries to make sense of what she’s saying. He’s been getting better at understanding words.

Somehow he’s an expert at memorizing the ones I’ve told him, but he’s also good at drawing out what we’re asking just by the tone of our voices. We often tease him for being an idiot, but honestly, he really isn’t.

He looks almost guilty when he gives up and looks to me for assistance.

"Help her?" I ask, knowing that he probably hasn’t heard the word ‘favor’ before.

His eyes light up at the prospect of helping Griffon, and he nods frantically.

"Can you go wake up Geoff, sweetie?" she smiles.

Those words he definitely knows, and he grins even wider before running out of the house in a hurry. I laugh loudly at the thought of Geoff being awoken by Gavin jumping on his bed or screaming at the top of his lungs.

If I thought Gavin waking  _me_  up was bad, it’ll be even worse for Geoff. Mainly because his house is so big and empty that the yelling will echo off the walls.

He slams the door shut behind him as he runs off, and I wince at the noise. I’ve finally taught him to close doors behind him, but he’s just a little too harsh about it sometimes.

"So, I sent him off because I want to talk to  _you_.” Griffon states, smirking at me.

Seeing that smile makes me sort of hesitant. I have no idea what she wants to talk to me about, but I’ve seen that smirk before. On both her and Geoff’s faces just seconds before they’re about to make somebody’s life a living hell.

"… About what?"

"About you and Gavin."

Oh God. Here it comes.

"What about us?" I ask, but it’s obvious from my facial expression that I know exactly what she’s referring to.

She rolls her eyes, but the smile remains. “How long have you two been together?”

"We aren’t  _together._  We’re just friends.” I try to keep the bitter tone out of my voice, but she hears it anyways.

"And you don’t want to be just friends anymore?" she asks, knowingly.

Talking to Ray about this sort of thing was a lot easier. He didn’t pry or try to force me to admit to my feelings. There was no talk about what was going to happen between Gavin and I in the future.

But Griffon’s always been one to actually deal with problems, whether they’re her own or not. She wouldn’t just let this slip by with a few sarcastic jokes and a roll of her eyes.

"I don’t know," I shrug, staring down at the floor.

I’m being honest. I actually have no idea.

I like Gavin. I really like him. It’s like my brain has just given up trying to deny it, and is now just letting me bemoan about it.

Being friends with Gavin seems so much simpler. It’s what I’m used to. I can’t even recall how long he’s been living in the town with us anymore, but it feels like years. Like I’ve known him my entire life.

But if I continue to just be friends with him, I’m always going to just be wanting more. I want him to kiss me again, and to let him hug me for as long as he wants. To hold him close, let him fall asleep in my arms, and make sure that he never cries again.

That all probably sounds incredibly lame and cheesy, and I’m so thankful that I didn’t say any of it out loud.

"Geoff and I used to be like that," she smiles, "He’d always be shy around me, and trying to act as though he didn’t like me."

It’s hard to imagine Geoff shy, but then again it’s still hard to imagine myself being shy.

"What happened?" I snicker at the thought, "Did you finally ask you out?"

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, “Of course not. I asked him for his number.”

I let out a breathy laugh at that, imagining Geoff red faced and bashful as the girl of his dreams asks him for his phone number. But this doesn’t help my situation at all. I’m not like Griffon. I’m like Geoff.

I like Gavin, but I’m hardly able to admit it to myself. I’d turn into a puddle of regret and self loathing if I ever told him.

"Listen," she says after a sigh, "All I’m saying is that somebody has to be the Griffon in this relationship. Do you really think Gavin understands enough to be able to do it?"

I look back up at her and see the hopeful yet pitying expression on her face.

All of this thinking is just too much, especially when I’ve only just woken up and it’s really early in the morning. I just I could just collapse back in my bed, pull the covers over my entire body, and sleep for the rest of my life.

I open my mouth to respond, but the sound of the door being thrown open beats me to it. We both look over in confusion as Geoff is dragged into the house by an excited Gavin.

He doesn’t look very pleased at being woken up and forced to run around the city so early (Welcome to  _my_  life). When Gavin stops running, Geoff stumbles over his own two feet. He mutters a curse under his breath, but when he finally looks up his eyes go wide.

"Griffon!" Gavin announces, pointing at her.

The sour look on Geoff’s face immediately disappears and is replaced with a wide grin. “Griffon!?” he repeats loudly, to confused and happy to be annoyed with Gavin anymore.

It’s not very often that the two get to see one another. Since we live so far away from Griffon, it’s always a hassle to visit one another. But seeing the expression on Geoff’s face when he sees her is always worth it.

Griffon laughs out loud as Geoff embraces her, “I didn’t know you were coming.”

"It was a surprise!" she smiles, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Gavin stands next to me, happily bouncing in place, too excited to stay in one place. “Kiss!” he cries out once he realizes that they’re doing so.

Geoff gives him the middle finger, but doesn’t move away from Griffon, still holding her close.

Maybe it’s worth it. I could be holding Gavin the same way that Geoff is holding Griffon. As I watch him giggling to himself in excitement at Griffon’s visit, I realize that I actually want that.

Griffon’s right. Gavin didn’t even know what a kiss was. He might not even know what a relationship is. If anybody is going to take the first step, it’s going to have to be me.

If taking this risk means that there’s even a tiny chance that I’ll get to have Gavin, then I’d be willing to take it every day of my life.

But I just have no idea how to do it.


	13. Chapter 13

Things were pretty quiet for the next few days.

We spent our time just hanging out with one another, laughing, joking, and doing the usual small jobs. I taught Gavin more English words, and he was so eager to show Griffon all that he’s learned.

It’s cute how happy he is with everybody in town. He’s always tagging along with people, helping them in anyway he can, and trying to talk with them.

Watching him trying to communicate has been getting funnier and funnier. As he learns more, the easier it is for him to explain things. But sometimes he’ll forget certain phrases or words and get frustrated with himself. Seeing the concentrated and annoyed look on his face is just too adorable sometimes.

Whenever I come back from doing a solo job or chore, Gavin always tackles me with a hug. As though he’s so relieved that I’m back and he has no other way to express that emotion.

Griffon and Ray have become increasingly annoying about it. Griffon’s found out that Ray knows about this whole ‘crush’ thing too, and neither of them are letting me forget it. Whenever Gavin and I are close they wink at me or nudge each other and nod at us. The grins on their faces are enough to know what they’re thinking.

It’s been pretty annoying, but the most I can do is glare at them to shut them up. I don’t want anybody else’s attention draw to it, even though I’m sure they probably already know. Maybe I just don’t want Gavin to notice.

All of us made our way through the woods to go to the newest Let’s Play.

Geoff made one that he could compete in too. He still hasn’t let Gavin to play in the games, but he’s still allowed to come and watch. Usually he’ll make a Tower of Pimps for him to sit on and watch from.

The Tower of Pimps has turned into some kind of trophy now. Whenever we play the games, the winner gets to have the tower outside of their house for the week. We’re actually competing for some dumb thing Gavin made while he was bored.

It’s like our groups own personal inside joke that we can all laugh at.

Although it’s obvious that Gavin wants to play too, he’s still content to just sit on the tower and watch us.

"Okay, we’re playing a game called Capture the Tower." Geoff states, "We’re split into teams of two. Team Gents versus Team Lads. Griffon, you are going to be a member of Team Lads in order to make even teams. Everybody goes to their team’s room. Right in front of your team’s door is half a tower of pimps. It’s like capture the flag, but we’re doing it with the tower. On the other side of the game is the half the tower of pimps you want to erect. So the first team to erect the tower of pimps gets a point. We’re going to play three, so first to three wins."

He explains quickly, and we all nod in understand. I turn to Gavin and explain in simpler and easier terms what is happening. It will be easier for him to follow along if he understands the game.

"Gavin," Geoff says after I finish, and points to the side of the walls where a decoration tower is standing, "You can sit up there and watch."

Gavin nods happily, completely fine with watching the game take place.

"Actually…" Griffon starts, and everybody turns to look at her, "I don’t think I want to play."

"What?" Jack asks, "Why not?"

"I asked you if you wanted to play before I built it and you said yes. The only reason we can play it now is because we have even teams." Geoff says, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Griffon smiles, “Yeah, I don’t think I really want to play. I’d rather watch.”

"Well we can’t play at all now then," Geoff rolls his eyes, "We can’t play two against three, that’s unfair."

"That’s not true!" she states, and something about her tone of voice and smile tells me that she planned this, "You guys need six players. There happens to be six willing participants here."

Everybody looks at Gavin again, who just stares at us all in confusion. He understood what the game instructions, but he has no idea what we’re arguing about.

"Do you want to play, Gavin?" Griffon asks him.

That he understands. His eyes shine at the possibility and he bounces in his place, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Geoff groans but has to smile at Griffon’s plan. It’s obvious that she had no intention on playing this weeks Let’s Play, and this was all just to ploy to get Geoff to let Gavin participate.

We all grin and wait for his answer. None of us have a problem with Gavin being in a Let’s Play, it’s all just for fun anyways. And who knows, he might even be a big help to us.

"Fine." he finally says, "You can play."

Gavin lets out a long happy squeak of excitement.

*

Letting Gavin play turns out to be a very good thing.

Now we have an even number of players and we’ll be able to do more team themed Let’s Plays, Gavin is now a full time member of Team Lads,  _and_  Team Lads beat Team Gents with a score of 3-0.

We all cheer and laugh our asses off at the fact that our team won regardless of Gavin’s incompetence. He ended up helping us a lot though, and when the game ended we all cheered hysterically, much to the annoyance of the Gents.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ryan rolls his eyes with a smile, "You guys got lucky!"

"We’re gonna kick your asses next time!" Jack taunts, still chuckling as we celebrate.

"We’ll have another team game next week, and  _then_  we’ll see who the real champions are!” Geoff states.

Hearing that makes us all cheer again, just because we all know this means that Gavin is going to be allowed in the Let’s Play next week. Maybe even the week after that. But the smile on Geoff’s face tells us that Gavin’s probably going to be playing with us forever.

*

As we walk back from the Let’s Play, we all talk excitedly about what happened during it. The game was undoubtedly fun, and we even talking about it now causes all of us to laugh.

"See? Aren’t you happy that you let Gavin join?" Griffon muses, she and Geoff swinging their interlocked fingers back and forth as they walk.

"Shut up," he mutters and rolls his eyes while she snickers.

"Do you think we could have won without Gav?" Ray asks.

"Nah, he was our good luck charm," I grin, and wrap my arms around Gavin’s shoulder, pulling him close to me and giving him a noogie. He cries out and fights against me playfully, but we all just laugh.

This game was further from Achievement City than they normally are. But we have to start spreading out the games so that they aren’t all crowding the land. Hence why we’ve had to walk for about thirty minutes through the woods to get to this week’s Let’s Play.

I hear the creeper before I see it. It’s hissing noise as it walks out from behind a tree.

I’d only just fully healed from the last creeper accident a few weeks ago. I don’t want myself or anybody else to go through that kind of pain again. Creeper explosions are deadly, and if you’re too close to one when it goes then you might not be as lucky as I was.

It all happens so fast after that.

"Creeper!" somebody calls out. We grab for our weapons and hold them out, ready to attack or fight back if necessary.

Gavin gasps when we all unsheathe our swords.

"No!" he cries.

I’m hesitant to trust him. I’ve seen him with creepers before and talk them out of attacking or exploding. He doesn’t understand how dangerous they are because he grew up with them.

"Gavin, don’t!" I say, but he’s already stepping towards the creeper anyways.

I reach blindly for the back of his shirt, trying to grab onto him and pull him back, but he’s already out of my reach. I would step forward to get him, but the creeper seems hesitant enough with Gavin. It might freak out if I come any closer.

Gavin hisses at it, trying to communicate that we aren’t going to hurt it, and that there’s no reason to explode or attack. He ignores my calls to come back, and continues trying to speak with it.

I hold my breath. Seeing him so close to something so dangerous scares me, and there’s a heavy feeling in my stomach that tells me this isn’t going to end well.

 

"Gavin!" Geoff yells after noticing that he isn’t paying attention to me. That prompts everybody else to start calling him back as well, but Gavin still doesn’t listen and continues on.

He’s about four feet from the creeper, and hasn’t moved any further yet. I don’t listen to everybody’s demands that he get away from it, I just focus on watching the exchange between the two.

Gavin looks pleading and desperate, not wanting a fight to break out.

It’s just a blur of people shouting, Gavin and the creeper hissing at one another, and the feeling of panic slowly spreading up my spine.

I’m only able to register the warning flashing of the creeper and the fact that Gavin is now in serious danger. I scream out his name but it falls deaf to my own ears. I can’t hear anything.

The only thing my mind focuses on is saving him.

I drop my sword to the ground and run at him, not caring or even thinking about the creeper that is about to explode.

When I feel Gavin’s shoulder against my palms, I push him as hard as I can. Away from the danger and away from me. My eyes squeeze shut when I feel the force of the blast. It throws me off my feet and for a few brief moments I feel nothing.

Everything is dark. I only feel the impact of the ground as my body hits it, a very sharp pain that rings through my head.

I want to move but I can’t. I want to talk but I can’t. I can’t even open my eyes. I just lay there, hearing everybody panic and yell out. But what I pay attention to is Gavin’s voice. It sounds echo-y and distant, but I can still hear the hysteria in it.

Something grabs me by the shoulders and sits on top of me, I recognize the familiar weight of Gavin. I know he’s yelling, but it’s hard to pick out the words. I have to fight myself to stay awake so that I can hear them.

"Wake up, Michael!" he’s screaming frantically, and my body is being shaken harshly, "Wake up!"

I can hear his sobs and terrified cries as he continues to shake me. It makes me want to reach out and reassure him that I’m okay, but even if I could I have no idea if that’s a lie or not.

I feel him being pulled away from me, his fingers desperately clinging to my shirt.

As they loosen, so does my grip on reality, and I fall into a black, seemingly never ending, unconsciousness.


	14. Chapter 14

I fade into consciousness.

It’s like a slow build, where I don’t realize what’s happening first and then the mist of confusion slowly raises. But my eyes are closed, I can only see darkness.

I can’t move or speak. No way to indicate that I’m alive or awake.

It makes me panic for a moment, and I want to thrash around wildly just to move in some way. It’s scary because I don’t really know what’s happened. Where am I? Is everybody else okay? Am  _I_ okay?

I could be paralyzed or about to die.

But I can’t think like that. I just have to calm down. Freaking out like this isn’t going to do anything but scare myself, so I allow myself to relax. Just focus on my breathing and the rhythm of my own heartbeat.

Once I’m about to pick out those noises, I start hearing voices. They sound far off at first, but as time progresses I realize that they’re actually in the room with me.

We must be in my house.

The important thing right now is that I’m alive. That fact alone makes me feel relieved and thankful. It’s pretty fucking annoying that I’m back in a bed, unconscious and almost dead, once again. But at least I’m alive and safe. I have to assume that everybody else is too.

I try to pick out what the voices are saying, but it takes a few more moments of waiting for my brain to catch up with it. I recognize the speakers as Geoff and Gavin, and since there have been no other voices, they must be the only two in the room.

I want to yell out to them and say that I’m okay, but it’s like my body is still asleep. It’s so frustrating.

I feel an hand on my head, brushing the hair out of my eyes gently. It’s comforting, and helps me relax a little more. I know that it’s Gavin, and I want to badly to open my eyes and see him.

"He’s gonna be okay," Geoff tells him.

I’m not sure if that’s the truth or not. He may just be saying that in order to calm down Gavin or lessen his worry. I may not be well at all. I could be even worse off than I was last time this happened. But worrying about it now isn’t going to do anything.

It’s quiet for a few moments, and I only listen to the gentle sounds of Gavin’s breathing because he’s so close to me. I focus purely on that because it helps keep me grounded.

"Why don’t the creepers trust you anymore?" I hear Geoff ask, his voice quiet but still curious. He acts as though speaking any louder will wake me up, but isn’t that what they want? Don’t you usually  _want_ unconscious people to wake up?

"Gavin around people," I hear him respond in his normal volume. He wouldn’t understand that he needs to be quiet around a sleeping person. I’m relieved though because this makes it easier for me to eavesdrop.

"What, is it like that thing with birds and eggs? We’ve touched you and now you smell like humans too much?" he asks sarcastically, then scoffs "You  _are_  a fucking human. You aren’t actually a creeper, Gavin.”

He sounds almost mad, and I wish I could talk right now. His voice raising like that probably makes Gavin hesitant to respond. Geoff’s angry voice can be scary sometimes, but at least he’s attempting to tone it down for my benefit.

"Creeper…" Gavin whispers, and it’s obviously because he’s a little frightened of the yelling.

"No, you aren’t." he states, "You’re a  _person_ , and you belong here with us. You shouldn’t be living out in the woods with creepers and other monsters.”

Geoff’s voice gets calmer again, and Gavin doesn’t sound so scared anymore when he unsurely whispers the words, “…My family”

I hear Geoff let out a loud sigh, “I don’t know what happened with your family. Michael hasn’t told us much. But they aren’t really your family, Gav. They’re just creepers that took care of you. Yes, they probably loved you and you loved them. But it’s not safe for you to be out there.”

"Safe?" he isn’t whispering anymore, and just sounds confused.

"Yeah. I don’t want you getting hurt like Michael has. I care about you two a lot."

It’s silent then. Gavin must be pondering the words or trying to make sense of them if he doesn’t understand. I wish I could open my eyes to see him, or at least talk and help him understand.

This is a big deal. Geoff is finally admitting that he cares about Gavin.

"Listen, I know I’ve been a real asshole to you and I’m sorry for that." Geoff continues once he realizes that Gavin isn’t going to respond, "And you probably don’t even understand what I’m saying right now, but…" he pauses for a moment, "I consider you to be as much a part of this family as everybody else is."

I hear a sharp intake of breath. Gavin recognizes that word ‘family’ and must have pieced enough together to understand what this means.

Only a few seconds pass where I hear loud movement and Geoff letting out a groan. Gavin yells out the word “Hug!” which leads me to assume that he’s tackled the man and has his arms wrapped around him now.

"Love?" Gavin asks, his voice slightly muffled but still happy.

Geoff chuckles, and I can almost picture him ruffling Gavin’s hair.

"Yeah, buddy. I love ‘ya." his voice is kind and soft with affection, and I briefly wonder if Gavin’s still hugging him. I’d give anything to open my eyes and see the two, bonding like a father and son during a fishing trip.

My heads begins to feel groggy. I struggle against it but the exhaustion becomes overpowering, so much that any noises in the room echo in my head and begin to sound as though they’re happening miles away from me.

The bed beneath me feels ten time more comfier, as though it’s just begging me to sleep and dream all of this away. I listen to it, and stop fighting. The darkness doesn’t seem so scary when I can still hear Gavin’s happy giggles echoing in the distance.

Just moments before I fall back into a deep and heavy sleep, I’m able to pick out the words, “Welcome to the family, kid.”

*

I have no idea how much time has passed when I feel my eyelids fluttering open. The brightness that shines in from the windows hurts my eyes, and fills me with a sense of deja vu.

I hurt all over, but it’s more of like a background feeling. I have to actually think about the pain to actually feel it or realize that it’s there. But maybe that’s just because I’m more focused on other things right now.

I notice Ryan, his back is to me and he’s fiddling around with some potions that are on the table.

"Ryan," I croak out. He turns to look at me immediately as I wince at my own voice and cough a little.

"Holy shit, you’re awake!" he exclaims.

"Where’s Gavin?"

I must have looked worried, because he quickly reassures me, “He’s fine. Completely fine. Actually worried sick about you. We all were.”

"How bad of shape am I in?"

"Not as bad as last time," he walks across the room and places a potion in my hands, "Drink that."

I do as he says. It tastes horrible. At least last time it just tasted sour and bitter, but now it’s like I’m trying to drink blended up garbage.

I move it away from my lips and make a face. Ryan grins and puts his hand on top of mine, forcing the drink back to my mouth again. “Just drink it, it’ll help you feel better.”

"I feel fine," I mutter, but I do as he says.

Once the bottle is empty I let Ryan help me sit up. There’s no thick white bandages wrapped around my chest or any of my limbs, so I assume that’s a good sign.

"How are you  _actually_  feeling?” Ryan asks, not believing for a second that I’m actually fine.

"My back hurts a little, but other than that just my head. Feels like there was an earthquake in it," I mutter, resting my forehead on my palms. It helps a little, but that might also just be the potion I drank.

"Yeah, there were no physical wounds this time. You just hit the ground really hard. Knocked you straight out."

"Perfect," I smile sarcastically.

Ryan chuckles and puts the empty potion bottle with the others, “You’ve been out for around two days.”

That causes my eyes to widen, “Two days!?”

He makes a sound of confirmation, “Everybody’s been pretty worried. Especially Gavin. He’s hardly left this room, and the only reason he isn’t here now is because Geoff forced him to leave and eat something.”

My heart flutters for a moment. Gavin really cares about me that much? If our positions were swapped and it was him that was unconscious in bed, I wouldn’t leave his side either. Maybe he really does care about me just as much as I do him.

I hope he doesn’t feel guilty. It isn’t his fault that I’m hurt, I just acted without thinking. But I know that if I did think, I still would have done it anyways. Gavin being blown up by creepers and killed isn’t exactly a good mental image, and I have to shake my head in order to get rid of it.

"Hey, guys!" Ryan calls out, I hadn’t even noticed that he’d went and leaned out the door, "Michael’s awake!"

Everybody else at Achievement City has gone through this before. They’ve already seen me unconscious and close to death, it isn’t anything new to them. This is Gavin and Griffon’s first time.

But it’s easier for Griffon, because she’s able to be told that I’m going to be okay. She understands English, and it isn’t confusing or scary for her. I’m worried that they tried to explain my condition to Gavin but he didn’t understand any of it. He just witnessed me in the creeper accident, then sleeping for two days straight. It must have terrified him.

"And here comes Gavin," Ryan snickers, and I can hear the boy screaming and running toward the house. I hear him before I see him.

"Michael!" he yells, "Michael!"

"Gavin!" I holler back, mainly just to amuse him.

Ryan moves out of the doorway and Gavin takes his place. He stands there for a few moments, just staring at me, awake and sat up in bed. Not asleep or in pain.

He lets out a squeal and then runs at me, jumping onto the bed and into my arms. His face buried into my neck, and he squeezes him as tight as he can. The warmth that spreads through my body at him being so close to me makes me want to stay like this forever.

I eventually have to pull away from him once I realize that everybody else is coming into the house too. “Get off of me,” I say with fake annoyance. He hears the affection in it and doesn’t take it to heart, but he does move away a little so that he isn’t choking me anymore.

"Head bad?" he asks.

I nod a little, not wanting to lie to him. “Head bad,” I confirm.

He frowns, and then kisses the top of my head before crawling off my lap and sitting down on the chair next to the bed.

I see everybody smirking at the exchange between us, and I roll my eyes at them. If only Gavin waited until we were alone to be adorable. But I can’t deny the amazing feeling that spread through my scalp as his lips met with my hair.

I push that from the back of my mind.

"Good morning, guys," I grin at that, "Did I miss much while I was gone?"

"Not really. Just us threatening to leash Gavin if he didn’t stop freaking out." Geoff mutters, a smile on his face.

"Do you remember much of what happened?" Ryan asks. He comes close and moves his finger back and forth like he’s trying to hypnotize me. I realize that he’s testing my vision and begin following it with my eyes. He nods in approval once he notes that my vision is still intact.

"Not really. I remember the creeper flashing, running to Gavin, and then hearing the explosion." I shrug, "Not very much after that though."

When Ryan gets up, Griffon takes his place. Sitting on the edge of the bed so that she can pull me into a hug. It’s nice, but not nearly as nice as Gavin’s. Her’s is more motherly and careful, which I still appreciate.

"You had us worried sick," she glares at me once she pulls away.

"I’ve been through worse," I smile, "No creepers gonna take me down."

"Except Gavin." Ray says, and Jack elbows him harshly in the sides. I laugh along with everybody else though. Maybe I’m just in a good mood because I’m so relieved that everything worked out okay.

This could have all ended really badly. Me running out to save Gavin wasn’t a guarantee that he’d survive this. What if I didn’t push him far enough and he still got damaged from the explosion? I don’t even want to think about him being unconscious in a bed for two days.

As they continue to tell me what happened while I was sleeping, how worried they were, and when I should be healthy again, I causally look at Gavin every so often. He just sits quietly in his seat, not contributing to the conversation at all. His eyes are watching me, but I can’t look at him long enough to place the emotion within them.

Once they’ve told me everything and I have an understanding of my health and what’s happened, I thank them all for taking care of me. They really are my family, and I love them unconditionally.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Geoff waves, rolling his eyes but I can see the affection behind it, "No need to get sappy."

I chuckle and look back over to Gavin, who’s still watching me. It’s like he’s scared I’m going to break and die if he looks away.

"Hey, guys?" I ask, still looking into his eyes, "Do you think Gav and I could talk for a bit?"

"Go ahead." Ray says with a smirk, and doesn’t move an inch from where he’s standing.

I glare at him, and point at the door.

"Come on," Griffon smiles, "Let’s leave these two alone for a bit."

They all begin to shuffle towards the exit, all saying their goodbyes and telling me to feel better.

"No banging while you’re still injured," Ray comments as he leaves through the door. Griffon’s the next one out after him, and I’m only able to see her hand raise, the soft smacking sound that follows, and Ray’s "Ow!" after they’re both out of sight.

I laugh, too amused to be annoyed at his words.

Gavin doesn’t pay any attention to them as they leave, his eyes on me and a small smile on his face. He’s slightly bouncing in his seat, which tells me that he’s trying to be patient but isn’t doing a very good job at showing it.

As soon as the door closes behind Ryan, who was the last to leave, he begins talking at a mile a second.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but he’s talking entirely in creeper. I can only tell that he must be speaking about me and how worried he was judging by the stressed and panicked expressions on his face.

"Gavin! Gavin!" I yell, reaching my arm out to put on his shoulder. My attempts to calm him down succeed because he stops hissing and just looks at me. "It’s okay. I’m fine."

He studies me for a few moments, hesitating on calling me out on the lie. Just because I’m not feeling one hundred percent right now, doesn’t mean that I will forever. I trust Ryan and his potion skills. This kind of thing has happened before and it lead me to meeting Gavin.

I can’t really see any kind of downside to getting hurt like this if it means getting to spend more time with him.

I’ll be healthy again soon. Gavin doesn’t need anymore reason to worry about me when I’m going to be okay again within a few weeks.

"Michael okay?" he asks softly.

I smile and nod a little, “Yeah, Michael okay.”

The grin that spreads across his face makes me forget all about the pain I’m feeling. It’s like as long as Gavin is happy, then I can be happy.

When I saw that creeper flashing next to him I didn’t even think about the consequences when I ran to push to him out of the way. All I cared about was his safety. If he died or gotten injured from that, I never would have been able to forgive myself.

Now he’s a part of the family. He isn’t alone anymore. He lives here at Achievement City with us and everybody loves him.

Well, maybe  _I_  love him a little more than the others.

As I look back at him, I see the affection and relief in his eyes at my safety. I realize that he cares about me just as much as I care about him.

He isn’t just some moron that doesn’t know our language. He has thoughts, feelings, and emotions. He wants to love and be loved in return by those he trusts. And that’s what we have isn’t it? I love him with all my heart. I’d be willing to do anything for him.

Maybe I was just an idiot this entire time for not letting him know that.

The consequences of throwing Gavin out of the way of that creeper could have been bad. I could have died, but Gavin would have lived. He would be alive and healthy. Maybe this is a lot like that. Telling Gavin the truth about my feelings for him has consequences too, but I’m willing to chance it. Sometimes you just can’t think things over and you have to do whatever your heart is telling you.

“I love you.” I state quickly, hoping that he won’t understand. But it’s basically impossible because he’s heard those words before. He’s heard Geoff and Griffon say it to each other, and I’ve even explained to him what it means. My only hope is that he doesn’t know how serious that word is.

But judging by the look on his face, he does. Maybe sometimes I don’t give Gavin enough credit.

“Michael… love Gavin?” he questions, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Uh, Yeah.” I look down, not wanting to look him in the eyes or let him see how red my cheeks are.

He’s silent for a few moments, not necessarily thinking it over but instead just looking at me in shock. I sit there, nervous energy twisting up into a painful ball that rests in my stomach. My mind keeps flooding with excuses that I can use to brush this off once he says he doesn’t feel the same way.

Maybe I’m not so confident in telling him anymore. The silence makes me regret every saying those words out loud.

But relief courses though my veins when a hug grin spreads across his face and he leaps at me, wrapping his arms around my neck and resting in my lap.

I don’t even pay attention to the pain that runs up my back. Only Gavin who’s squeezing me as tight as he can, and is burying his face in my shoulder.

“Gavin love Michael!” he cries happily, and throws his arms around my neck. “Hug!”

I let out a loud laugh at that, squeezing my eyes shut as I hold him closer to me. When his grip loosens I reluctantly let him go but it proves to be beneficial because he automatically grabs my face and brings his lips to mine. Even better than that first kiss a few days ago.

I can feel his smile against my mouth, and it makes me want to just hold him in this tight embrace forever. To help and protect him for the rest of my life and never let him feel alone again.

When we finally move away from each other he doesn’t shout, but softly murmurs the word “Kiss,” with a content and slightly dazed look on his face.

“You idiot creeper boy,” I smirk before pulling his face back to mine again.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Creeper Boy [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091480) by [Sandstripe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandstripe/pseuds/Sandstripe)




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